The Forever Night
by Tastychainsaws
Summary: "They had grown past tragedies, but still held their lost friends dear to their heart. On the road to rebuilding what had once been, two childhood friends plan a trip back to a childhood home. Ancient traditions call for modern blood, and one must heed the call. They say the night is darkest just before dawn, but what if that dawn never comes?"
1. Memories of May

**THE FOREVER NIGHT**

**PART ONE**

**MEMORIES OF MAY**

"_When it rains, it pours like hell…_"

-_The Gale_ by _Insomnium_

**Best read at night**

**1**

"Alright, Shiori, I'll show you this, but you can't tell Mom or Dad about it. They still think you're too young." Hitomi Higashiyama told her fourteen-year-old-sister. She was twenty-four years old, and had been shown the _secret_ on her eighteenth birthday. Their parents wanted to wait for Shiori to become a full woman before being shown as well, but Hitomi knew they didn't have another four years to wait.

The Forever Night was coming.

"I won't tell, Onee-chan. I promise." Little Shiori put her fist to heart and nodded solemnly. She was a small girl, looking more like a kid than a young teenager. Awkward and shy, she had no friends in the village and looked up to her sister as a role-model and best friend. Hitomi thought she was an irritating little kid, but she had her uses every now and then.

With them was Hitomi's best friend of the same age, Izanami Sato. Out of the two friends Izanami had a reputation of being the kinder and friendlier one, but was often walked on by Hitomi. She wore glasses and kept her hair short, while both Higashiyama sisters wore their hair long in nearly identical styles.

"Are you sure she's old enough?" Izanami asked. Hitomi had a point about how time was short. All of them had felt the restlessness of the spirits in their tiny little village, _Okamishin_. There was no doubting it, the Night was coming.

"If you want to second guess me, you can stroll right the fuck back home." Hitomi replied.

Shiori hung back and smiled at Izanami. "It'll be okay, Iza-chan. Onee-chan knows what she's doing."

They continued to walk the narrow and steep stone steps of the mountain Okamishin was built against. The hike was about a kilometer long, and treacherous in the dark of the night. At the top was the shrine the Kami the village was named after resided at. Hiding beneath it was the secret. The night was quiet and eerily dark as the moon was hidden behind a thick layer of clouds. Even in November, the mountain side should have been alive with noise from insects and birds. There was nothing; nothing at all.

The youngest of the three could barely see anything around her. How the other two could traverse the winding, thousand meter hike was a mystery to her. It felt like a dream almost.

The Higashiyama family had worked as caretakers of this shrine, some of the closest human links to the kami that lived. Legend had it that every twenty years the goddess beneath would stir in her perpetual sleep, reaching out for a catalyst to be reborn. Once she was reborn, she would remake all those who lived in the village with her image and begin what was called The Forever Night. It was a tradition that went back in the village for hundreds upon hundreds of years.

They hiked through the dark for another five minutes in silence. Reflecting over the legend she had grown up with, Shiori was curious about some of the details. Okamishin was a village far removed from modern society, but she had still grown up with an education and access to the internet. The more she wondered about it, the more the legend just seemed absolutely ridiculous, but doubting it any way around the elders of the village was grounds for punishment; people took it very seriously. The local law enforcement was involved in it as well. There was no restriction on how one could be punished.

"Onee-chan, what's the catalyst supposed to be?" Shiori asked her sister.

"A person." She answered instantly. "She needs a certain person's body to wake up again. Since the Night has never come, we can figure pretty easily that nobody has ever found the catalyst she needs. The elders say when they see the catalyst, they'll know."

"Oh, I see." Shiori nodded in understanding, still following her sister upwards. "Can the catalyst just be anyone?"

"No, you idiot. If it was anyone, then it could be just some asshole in Brazil for all we fucking know. Then the Night would never come. No, it has to be someone from the village, or someone who had ancestors here." Hitomi explained in a snide tone that made Shiori hang her head in shame. She felt stupid for even asking.

"What about you, Iza-chan?" Shiori then asked.

"What about me?" Izanami raised an eyebrow. As she walked, she rested her hands behind her head.

"Do you believe in any of this?"

Izanami nodded curtly. "Bits and pieces. Some parts yes, some parts no. It's up to you to decide what's real and what isn't, Shicchan."

"Right, I understand." The younger girl replied, not quite understanding. She didn't understand how she was supposed to decide what the truth was.

It was not before long that the three reached the shrine. In the dark, Shiori could barely make it out past the foliage surrounding it. She could see the shape of the torii before the entrance. It was a sad looking arch that probably predated not only most structures in Japan, but was probably older than most modern nations in the world. Beyond it was a single small building with a slanted roof. Crumbling stone effigies of wolf-dogs flanked the path to the shrine, their faces stretched in a perpetual snarl at the three girls.

Shiori felt very unwelcome here.

"M-Maybe our parents were right… maybe I should wait." She said, already looking back down the path they had come longingly. At the base of the mountain, she could see the lights of the village, and suddenly craved their security. She wanted to be back in her warm bed with a good book and her mp3 player.

"Don't let the komainu scare you." Izanami tried to calm Shiori down. "It's a little spooky, but they're just made of stone."

"If you leave now…" Hitomi turned and frowned to her sister, "…I'm going to punish you. Do you want that?"

"No!" Shoiri winced and shut her eyes in fear at juts the very thought of 'punishment'. Her sister had special ways of punishing her, ways that would make it hard to stand for days afterwards. Shiori knew never to let herself be in a position where she deserved punishment. It was almost impressive how many creative and humiliating ways her sister knew to torment her. What really hurt Shiori the most inside was how she knew her sister's games of punishment had left her as an improper bride.

The older sister smirked at the worry she had hammered into her little sibling. She moved ahead and slid open the door to the shrine. With a heavy groan, she looked over her shoulder to her friend. "Izanami, please tell me you brought a-"

"I did." Izanami pulled rechargeable flashlight from her pocket. It was one of the clear ones that could be charged by being shaken.

She tossed it to Hitomi who caught it without even looking. If Shiori hadn't felt so uncomfortable, she would have been impressed with that catch. Hitomi stepped inside the shrine, only managing to reveal a small area with the poor flashlight. Shiori stood behind her sister and looked inside.

The interior of the shrine was dark and dusty, and devoid of anything but a small table in the center. The young girl wasn't even sure this could be considered a shrine. It felt like a small little shack up in the mountain too small and too isolated to be of any use. Still, it was decorated just like one. There was nothing inside though. What could her older sister have brought her to see?

Suddenly, Shiori heard a noise. It was a low rumbling sound, like some sort of animal was growling. It didn't sound like any earthly creature. It was a demonic grumbling that seemed to echo all around them like the mountain itself was groaning. The younger sister gave a quiet yelp of surprise and leapt forward to clutch onto her sister.

Hitomi shoved her away and laughed at her. Izanami remained silent.

"Wh-what are you laughing at?" Shiori asked her sister in a low, terrified voice.

"You." Her sister smirked and looked down at her. "Don't you understand what that was? It was the goddess of our little village. What did we tell you? The Forever Night _is_ coming!"

"This is what you wanted to show me?" Shiori then asked, praying silently there was no more to this. She wanted to be home more than ever. This was too much for her to handle.

Sadly, Hitomi shook her head and stepped inside the shrine. "Nope. That wasn't even planned. Come on, don't you want to see the goddess herself?"

**2**

Tainaka Ritsu was the kind of girl who thought that eventually, she deserved to catch a fucking break. Like any sensible person, she understood that life was like a roller coaster with its ups and downs. Six months ago in the rainy month of May, that roller coaster had turned out to be Busch Garden's Sheikra in Tampa, Florida. It had been a two-hundred foot drop at a straight ninety-degree angle, but with none of the thrills. Now, in the windy and cold month of November, Ritsu was starting find that the roller coaster was beginning to level out and slow down a bit. She had done the drop, gone through the loops, and now it was time to relax and wind down.

Hopefully.

She was twenty years old now – two years out of high school – and not quite where she had pictured herself. To be fair, Ritsu had never had a clear picture in mind of what her future would look like. When the bureaucracy of public schooling demanded an answer, she simply put down 'music'. That apparently had not been a valid career choice, but two years later Ritsu sat spinning drumsticks in her hand thinking otherwise.

Sure, she wasn't known or even had a band together, but her skills at the helm of a drum kit were only rising. She'd used most of one paycheck to afford a nice electronic drum set to practice with in her apartment. Living on the 8th floor meant anything short of basic practice pads wasn't viable. Now, with this new piece of technology, she could practice double kicks and paradiddles to her heart's content.

About a year prior, Ritsu had realized that university didn't quite suit her. She couldn't place what it was that made her withdraw from continuing school. The pressure? The stress? Or friends being killed? Although she didn't like to think about it often, she attributed her failures to the latter. Grief, loss, and the hopeless sense of confusion that came with someone you loved being taken away. Instead of finishing school, Ritsu had taken a different path. She had become a policewoman.

Patrolling the streets of high income neighborhoods in Tokyo was a simple, yet noble job. She ticketed the people who sped and didn't come to complete stops at stop-lights, responded to calls on suspicious teenagers probably doing drugs, and occasionally had to settle some domestic dispute. At the end of the day she could kick off her shoes, have a beer, and listen to some early nineties band she missed while growing up. The biggest accomplishment of the internet, in her opinion, was the window of opportunity it gave to find new music. Having an ISP who didn't monitor her download and upload traffic either was quite nice too.

Those who knew Ritsu also knew that she was a social creature. After three friends had been taken from her, she realized just how much she loved and cherished those who were left. She lived in Tokyo and Mio went to school elsewhere, but they kept in contact through phone and email. What about the endearing keyboardist and wealthy blonde, Kotobuki Tsumugi? To put it simply, she and Ritsu had become rather close.

Ritsu thought back to a dreary and drizzly day in May when she and Mugi walked together, completely oblivious to the tragedy they would soon learn of. Mustering up what little confidence she had, Mugi had made a confession. It was something that should have been rather obvious to anyone who knew her.

_The blonde took a deep breath, looked Ritsu in the eyes and told her, "Ricchan, I like girls. I mean, _like_ girls. I'm…I'm gay."_

Did Mio know? Ritsu didn't think so. Would Mio find out? Probably. Mugi was rooming with Ritsu as she went to school in Tokyo. Ritsu knew the bottom would fall out and Mio would catch on, because it wasn't just that Mugi was gay…

Sitting at her kotatsu in her apartment in front of her laptop, Ritsu felt the soft lips of Kotobuki Tsumugi press against her cheeks.

…it was because Kotobuki Tsumugi and Tainaka Ritsu had been going steady for about six months now. It was a relationship Ritsu could have never imagined happening until it was dumped in her lap through circumstances so bizarre she couldn't explain them. Instead, if she was asked about her relationship, she would simply reply, _"I didn't know as much about myself and my sexuality until I met her…_"

Except, she had never replied with that, because nobody had asked. Their relationship was secret and far too scandalous to be open even to friends and family.

"Hey you." Ritsu said to Mugi as she settled into the kotatsu next to her. Her voice was light, and almost had a sing-song tone to it. "I didn't hear you come in, how were your classes?"

"_Class_." The blonde corrected. She peeked at Ritsu's laptop screen, but Ritsu was too quick and quickly opened up a blank tab to cover whatever she had been looking at. She shrugged it off and continued, "It was simple though. Remember what my Sunday class is?"

"Music theory, right?" Ritsu hazarded a blind guess. She had trouble remembering what Mugi's major was, much less her day-by-day school schedule. The little things didn't matter as much to her.

"Mhm." Mugi nodded, smiling that Ritsu had apparently remembered. "It feels a little like cheating since I know most of this already. I'm being graded a little harder because of it, I think. One student's composition was given one-hundred percent even though it was only five measures long, while my three-minute piano piece was given eighty percent because my shift from sticking primarily subbass to mezzosporano was too abrupt midway through. He said it was like two different songs, but I think the tempo and time signatures changing worked to make the transition smooth."

"Eh, which song was this again?" Ritsu asked, only catching half of what Mugi was saying. While she was a competent musician, the finer points of theory eluded her.

"_Walking with Flowers_, remember? You helped me with it by giving me drum beat to work with." Mugi reminded her.

"Ohh, right, right!" Ritsu suddenly remembered. "It reminded me of _Beck's Bolero_, so I matched the beat to that. Came out pretty well if I do say so myself. Tsk, eighty percent. Maybe your professor just hates you, that song was a stroke of brilliance."  
"It was just me sort of phoning it in though." The blonde admitted with a sigh. "I tried to play it safe, and I guess it showed. Some of the core melodies were just revised parts of songs I had written down in my notebook. I learned my lesson, I'm not going to just reuse material and pass it off as new. There was a reason that stuff was cut in the first place."

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Ritsu playfully elbowed her lady friend. "Your stuff is good; it's the professor's problem if it gets a low mark."

"He decides whether or not I fail though." Mugi reminded again and stood up from the kotatsu. She stretched and sighed in relief as her joints popped. "I need to change into something a little more comfortable. Wanna cuddle for a little bit and maybe watch a movie?"

Ritsu couldn't say no to those doe's eyes Mugi flashed. Doing anything to make Mugi unhappy in the slightest felt like having a railroad spike shoved through her heart. Ritsu would risk literally everything for Mugi to see her well and happy.

_Heck, I already did that. What more could I give? _ She wondered and replied, "Sure thing. Remember, Mio's coming over tonight, so we gotta really keep it low key though."

"Oh, I almost forgot." Mugi gave a brief gasp. "It's so great to see Mio-chan again! When are you two leaving tomorrow?"

"Morning." Ritsu replied. "Oops… I just realized something. We share a room and bed." She groaned and buried her face in her palm. "That's going to seem really weird to her."

"You could tell her one of us sleeps out here on a futon." Mugi suggested, stepping towards their room to get changed. "Then when Mio-chan comes, we offer her to the futon and share the bed."

"That could work." Ritsu nodded and stood up herself. She walked to the kitchen and called to Mugi, "We're planning on being gone three days, you gonna miss me?"

"Every waking second!" Mugi called back from their room.

Ritsu chuckled at that, and felt her heart grow warm. She opened up the refrigerator and thought back to the moment Mugi had confessed her feelings.

_"Ricchan… I like you, more than just a really close friend. You're so cool and sexy and I can't stop thinking about you every second of every day now. P-Please, would you be my girlfriend?"_

She had initially rejected her, and had felt angry. She was angry that such a good friendship had been hurt by that confession, not angry at Mugi. Then, everything had spiraled out of control from there. Unforeseen events had nearly destroyed everything they had. Ritsu didn't like to think about what had happened, but by the end of it, she had been so glad to have Mugi back in her arms that she'd reconsidered that rejection. At first she wondered if it was the right choice, because she was not physically attracted to her at all. Weeks had passed and she had grown more and more confident and comfortable around her; now she had no regrets at all. There had been ups and plenty of downs to their relationship, but Ritsu was happy. Mugi made her happy. She thankful everyday she had taken the risk of being with her.

From the fridge she grabbed the bottle of Bacardi rum and poured herself a shot. Mio would be there in some four-five hours; Ritsu thought a little buzz wouldn't hurt anyone. She put the shot glass in the sink and the bottle in the refrigerator before walking back to the kotatsu.

She settled in comfortably and Mugi returned. She was wearing her red yukata loosely and untied. As she sat beside Ritsu, the drummer realized that Mugi wasn't wearing anything under it. Through the parting in the middle, she could see the side of her breast perfectly, and a sweet – but brief – glimpse of her light colored areola.

"How did I ever land a catch like you?" Ritsu chuckled and put her arm around Mugi's shoulder. The blonde cuddled close to her, and together, they sunk under the kotatsu, resting their heads on the pillow around them. Ritsu was wearing shorts, and she felt Mugi's bare legs rest against her. It seemed that she had shrugged off her kimono beneath the kotatsu. There was something instinctively kinky about knowing Mugi was naked just out of sight.

"You took a drink while I was gone." Mugi huffed, looking cute to Ritsu. She gave a helpless sigh and said, "You know I hate that stuff. It's not good for you."

"Everything in moderation, my dear." Ritsu leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "You'll catch a cold snuggling up all naked under the kotatsu."

"I'm not naked, I have… underwear." The blonde's cheeks flushed red. Ritsu gave a mischievous smile as Mugi blushed. Her free hand slid under the kotatsu and found its way under the folds of Mugi's yukata. She felt the soft, smooth skin of her breast, and cupped it gently.

Ritsu kissed her on the neck and whispered in her ear: "I'm gonna be gone three days. I wanna give you something to remember me by."

"You're so sweet." Mugi gave a quick exhale as Ritsu climbed over her, now lying on top of her. Ritsu put both arms around her and kissed her. Her arms ran down Mugi's back, with her fingers grazing through her soft and silky hair. She helped shrug her out of the yukata fully, and felt her mostly naked body against her beneath the warm covers.

Even after six months, Ritsu was still getting used to the more physical parts of their relationship. Innocent kisses and cuddling together were one thing, but when clothes started coming off was when she got nervous. Thankfully, Mugi was not a very sexual person. Their love making sessions were few and far between, and mostly came up spontaneously. A dark part of Ritsu's mind wondered if she was doing this now because she was genuinely aroused or because the Bacardi was singing its song. She was a lightweight, even one shot left her buzzed.

_Does it matter?_ She wondered. _Does it ever matter what the motives are? The end is just the same. Mugi winds up satisfied and spends the rest of the day glowing. Besides, it's not like I hate this. _

They kissed slowly and tenderly. To Ritsu, Mugi's kisses were the most loving thing in the world. It was like she put every ounce of her being into making each kiss as meaningful as possible. It was so easy to lose herself in Mugi's lips, to forget herself and everything around her, to just live in the moment and let herself go. The more they kissed, the hotter Ritsu found herself becoming. The heat was between her legs, and it made her womanhood cry for attention. She was a master of ignoring that cry. This was about making her girlfriend feel good, and her own desires would pass.

Ritsu broke off the kiss and pulled her head back a few inches. There was no trail of saliva between her lips, and for some reason Ritsu found that just a little disappointing.

Mugi smiled at her and gave a girlish giggle. "Ricchan, you taste like rum. Maybe I should make you wash your mouth before kissing me from now on."

"Count your blessings, sweetheart. I could be drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon." Ritsu knew Mugi wouldn't know what she was talking about. She leaned forward and rubbed her nose against the blonde's before giving her a short kiss on the lips again. "I said I was gonna give you something to remember me by, and I meant it. Are you ready for a one-way paid ticket to heaven, sweetheart?"

Blushing again, Mugi gave a quick nod while smiling sheepishly. Ritsu smiled back at her coyly and started inching her hand beneath the kotatsu down Mugi's bare body. She stopped and quietly requested, "Hey… sit on the carpet here. I… I wanna see you. You're so beautiful."

"Ricchan." Was the only word her blonde lover could muster. Trembling slightly from nervousness, and perhaps something else, Mugi crept out from beneath the kotatsu and lay down beside Ritsu. There was a look on her face that was different to Ritsu. It was weird mix of nervousness and submissiveness. It was a look that said, _Please take care of me_.

Before their relationship, Ritsu had never paid any attention to the loveliness of the female body. Now, she was completely transfixed on the pale glory that was Mugi's naked form against the dark gray carpet beneath her. She was gorgeous, absolutely fucking gorgeous. How she had gone so far without any other ladies (or gents) taking notice of her was a mystery the likes of which the world had not seen since Jack the Ripper prowled the streets of London. Ritsu simply didn't understand it, and most of the time didn't feel worthy given how non-lesbian she considered herself. She didn't like girls, she liked Mugi and after what happened in May, she owed Mugi every ounce of her being.

Above all else, she felt torn between so many emotions and feelings that she felt there was no word to describe her feelings for Kotobuki Tsumugi, but she didn't feel like she needed a word for it. Their relationship simply was what it was. Those thoughts transpired through her mind in the blink of an eye as she settled between Mugi's pale legs. If there was any criticism Ritsu could lay, it was that maybe her girlfriend needed more sun. Some would argue maybe she could drop a few kilos, but Ritsu thought the curves were cute.

Her hands tugged at the waistband of Mugi's frilly panties, and in an instantly Mugi reached her hand down to stop her.

_Oh boy, here we go…_

"R-Ricchan…" Mugi nervously spoke. "I…I haven't had a chance to tidy up down there. M-Maybe I should shower first?"

Ritsu sighed and placed her index finger gently against the fabric covering Mugi's sex. It was warm and damp. She shook her head and replied, "Shut up, sit back, and enjoy the ride."

"B-But Ricchan!" She was bewildered by Ritsu's orderly response. Her body quivered at Ritsu's touch, squirming slightly. It was precisely the reaction she had wanted.

The drummer chuckled and pushed Mugi's hand away. "But nothing."

She pulled Mugi's panties midway down and caught a glimpse of her most sacred of places. The aroma of her arousal was present in the air, and despite her best efforts, Ritsu wrinkled her nose at it. That smell was more interesting than anything else, because there just wasn't anything else like it, and it was so difficult to describe. So signature, so unique, but at the same time so very dirty. Mugi's sex was coated with a light brush of blonde, wiry hair. The last time Ritsu had gone down on her, Mugi's hair had tickled her nose and caused her to sneeze more than once, much to the embarrassment of the blonde.

_God, going down on Mugi… Just thinking those words makes my head spin. She's so sweet, loving, and innocent. It's so easy to imagine her living her entire life not even thinking about sex, let alone having it, and here I am about to escort her personally to heaven. This… I need to act and not think._

She decided to do just that. With one more tug, she had Mugi's panties around her ankles. Her girlfriend spread her legs for better access. Something wasn't right though. There was still a look of slight reluctance on Mugi's blushing cheeks. She may have been trembling with lust, but Ritsu knew that she was going too fast for the blonde. Ritsu knew that her girlfriend was the type who needed to be loved tenderly and slowly, let the pace start slow and work its way up.

Ritsu moved up slightly and at over Mugi's naked lap. Their eyes met, and Ritsu reached for her hands, grasping their fingers together. They stayed there motionless, simply communicating through slightly nervous smiles and eye-contact. To Ritsu, Mugi's eyes were the most beautiful thing in the world. They said so much without saying anything at all. There were so many thoughts being reflected in them. Ritsu could see it all; she had a way of reading Mugi.

She saw the want in her eyes, yet the fear, the embarrassment and shame of being naked like that. The love in her eyes was there too, and it shone past everything else. Ritsu leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. Mugi let out a long exhale and relaxed ever more slightly. Her arms went around Ritsu, pulling her close and tight. Ritsu returned the embrace, holding her girl's naked body against her as they kissed.

It was there, all so obvious. All the love in those kisses the blonde gave her. The passion was equal to nothing else in the world. Nothing else could feel as wonderful and soft as those lips. Ritsu didn't think how that could be possible. The tempo of their expression of love increased until they were fully making out. Ritsu gently raked her nails against Mugi's bare back, provoking a muffled moan from her. Their kisses became even more passionate, wetter, and faster. Ritsu found herself quietly moaning in time with the girl at her lips. They rolled over on the floor, putting Mugi on top.

The kiss finally broke off. Suddenly, it was the blonde taking the aggressive stance. Her lips went to Ritsu's neck, sucking hard and gently nibbling. Ritsu gave a louder moan and raked her fingers harder against Mugi's back. She could smell Mugi's hair, a subtle floral scent that only served to heighten her already wired nerves.

"Oh God, Mugi…" Ritsu found herself gasping at those lips and gentle teeth at her neck. "I… I'm so turned on right now."

"Good." Her voice was an exhale between kisses on Ritsu's neck and chin. "We can love each other this time, m-make each other f-feel good…"

Ritsu could see the blush on Mugi's cheek without having to look at her face. She stroked her hair and whispered, "Yeah, that's what we'll do. Make each other feel real good."

There was a sudden knock on the door. Ritsu rolled her fist into a ball and slammed it into the ground. "_Sonuva bitch!_"

"Oh no…" Mugi sat up, her cheeks fully red as Ritsu had predicted. She covered her chest with her arms and closed her legs. "W-What should we do, w-who is it?"

Ritsu saw how worried she looked, like this person was just going to walk on in. She put a hand on Mugi's and leaned forward to give her one last quick kiss on the lips. "Hey, you run into our room and get some clothes on, cutie. We'll… uh, finish this up some other time. That's a promise, okay?"

"A-Alright." Was Mugi's shaky response as she bounded off to their room. Ritsu groaned in slight frustration and enjoyed the view of Mugi's fine behind as she walked away. She got to her feet and straightened her clothes.

_Well, good thing this person knocked –before- I really started getting busy. I don't want to come to the door smelling like rum, sweat and vagina. Well, some of the guys at the station come to work like that so I guess I wouldn't be at fault too much._

The door knocked again and Ritsu chuckled at her own stupid joke. Some of those other officers lived such filthy lives Ritsu was amazed they even kept their jobs. They were friendly people and Ritsu enjoyed the company of pretty much all of them; even the guy who blasted _The Faceless' _new album, _Autothiesm_ every fucking day in the break room. Ritsu had heard those first three songs so many times that the line, _"I have realized, I am God…" _was burned into her mind for the rest of her life.

Now with the stupid title track stuck in her head, she answered the from door and was pleasantly surprised to find none other than Akiyama Mio standing there with her luggage for their trip to Mio's home.  
"M-Mio!" Ritsu blurted out and surged forward to grab her into a tight hug. There weren't many things Ritsu appreciated interrupting her few and precious romantic times with Mugi, but she was okay with it being Mio. "I thought you said you'd be here tonight! It's only three o'clock!"

"I'd be fighting rush hour traffic to get to you." Mio's excitement at seeing Ritsu made her giggle uncontrollably as she hugged her back. It had been months and months since they had last seen each other. "I can't wait to show you the car Daddy bought me for how high my marks were!"

"You got a car now? Holy cr-" Ritsu cut herself off and laughed. She shot Mio a playful jab at the ribs and turned around with outstretched arms. "Come in, come see our apartment!"

**3**

"Calm down?" Izanami repeated. She raised her voice and shouted loud enough to make her voice crack, "_Don't you fucking tell me to calm down!_"

Shiori was surprised. Izanami was always a very passive person. She never yelled, and now here she was screaming at her sister. The young girl's eyes glanced at her right arm, or what was left of it. She was lying on her back, too dizzy and exhausted to move. Her right hand and most of her forearm was gone, leaving a flayed and bloodied stump where the jagged remnants of reddened bones jutted forth. Her stomach churned at the sight of her mutilated self, yet at the same time she was feeling disconnected from it all. It was like a dream, and she couldn't even feel it.

In fact, she had trouble recalling what had even happened. Her hand was gone… and… what else? She struggled to remember.

"Well, we know she's not the catalyst." Hitomi replied with a shit-eating grin on her face. She stepped over to her incapacitated sister, her shoe splashing in the blood around her. Bending down, she put a hand on Shiori's face and spoke, "Do you see? All the legends are real. And don't worry about your hand. You still have another one."

"_What the fuck is wrong with you!?_" Izanami screamed at Hitomi. "She's going to _die_ if we don't get her out of here! Hitomi, wake up; this is going to look really bad if a death is tied to Okamishin! This same shit happened on the other side of Japan and the officials started poking around. They place got torched, remember, Hitomi? The village that worshiped the En-"

"I know!" Hitomi shouted back. "Calm the fuck down, Izanami. That was nearly a century ago and Shiori's a local. Nobody is gonna care, they can just chalk it up to her being attacked by a bear or something."

"A bear? _A fucking bear!?_" Izanami screamed again. "I reiterate my point, what the fuck is wrong with you!? You're fucking psychopath!"

On the ground Shiori groaned, vaguely aware of what should have nerve wracking and toe-curling pain on her mutilated arm. She remembered very little.

Slowly, everything that happened before began to come back to her. The quality in which it returned to her mind was sludgy and hazy, and it felt like she was watching herself act on her own. She didn't remember any of it, so the memories played out like a movie in her head.

There was a trapdoor beneath the shrine, and below were tunnels. Shiori had been following her sister who seemed to know the way. The only light was from that little flashlight, and using that, Hitomi navigated the literal maze beneath the shrine. The passages were narrow, with walls made of mildewed, mortared stone. The whole place was flooded with dark, brown water that was frigid cold and ankle deep.

Terrified out of her little wits, Shiori prayed every step that this was all a dream she'd wake up from. Around her, dozens of side passages branched off from the path Hitomi took. It looked so easy to make one wrong turn and be lost down there forever in those dark, winding corridors.

They walked for at least ten minutes through the underground maze, and the more they walked, the more surreal it became. The passages were more haphazardly dug, winding more and more, and seemed to double back on each other in impossible ways. Still, Hitomi seemed to know the way somehow. The walls around them felt like they were breathing evil and decay, like Shiori was walking the labyrinthine depths of some great demon's bowels.

And then they came to their destination. A decent sized chamber carved into rock. Torches lined the walls there, and it was anyone's guess who had lit them and how long ago. There was no water in this room. The only thing there was at the far side.

It was a mass of blackness the size of a car, pulsating like it had a heartbeat, like it was a living black hole that simply devoured light. Shiori saw it, and could _feel_ the power radiating around it. She could feel its sentience and its malevolence, and its hunger as well. The air around them hummed in a bassy way, making them all feel sick to the stomach. It was like being in front of the speakers of a rock concert and feeling every rumble as the bassist's monitors blasted sound.

"_Touch it_." Hitomi had told Shiori with a mischievous smirk. "_Go on. Don't you want to know if you're the catalyst? How can we know if you don't try?_"

The younger sister was silent, along with Izanami. She felt the urge to do just that, reach out her hand into the blackness and let it take her, change her, change everything. She knew that's what it wanted. This was… this was their heathen goddess in her primordial form. Okamishin was crying out for her vessel to walk the earth again. Shiori felt it, the longing to be that vessel and be complete with her deity.

Her feet moved on their own, shuffling towards the darkness there. She reached out her hand and smiled.

"_Shiori, NO!_" Izanami had cried out behind her, reaching out to grab her and pull her away.

Her hands grabbed at the fabric of Shiori's shirt, but the young girl was suddenly pulled forward with inhuman force.

Her small hand was pulled into black mass.

And then it was gone.

**4**

In the evening that Mio had arrived at her place, Ritsu realized she had made a bit of mistake. When she had called Mio up on her cellphone to make plans, she had just _assumed_ she knew Mugi was rooming with her. It had never been brought up in conversation.

"I sort of assumed the point of roommates was that each person split rent and utilities." Mio said as they sat around the kotatsu sipping tea. It was like the old days in the clubroom before they graduated and best friends started dying.

Ritsu puffed her chest out in pride and replied, "I make around 200,000 yen a month, Mio. Rent is only half that for the two of us and this is a great apartment. Mugi picked it out."

"You two went apartment hunting together?" Mio raised an eyebrow. "I sort of assumed one of you already lived here. Where did you both live before this?"

Mugi answered first in a soft voice matching her soft smile. "I lived on campus at my school until May. That's when Ricchan and I decided to live together."

"I was living in some real shitty place downtown before this." Ritsu told her.

"How come?" Mio asked her, probing more and more. "You said you were making two-hundred grand a month."

"Rent was half of what we are paying now, so I had three-fourths of my paycheck each month left over. Most of that was going to paying off my car right away. I was able to pay off most of it before Mugi and I moved in here. Plus I had my electronic drumset that I bought, plenty of CDs, and bars can put a hole in your wallet too."

"Bars!?" Mio gasped, face going pale.

Mugi bit her lip and looked away. She had nothing to say on that subject.

Ritsu cringed at her own loud mouth. "I went out for drinks with people from the academy every now and then for celebrations."

"Still, that's not good." Her raven-haired friend scolded her. "I can't gripe too much. I'm… I'm impressed Ritsu, you seem to be doing the best out of all of us." She smiled, "At least until we finish school. That reminds me Mugi, how are your classes going? No, not just that, how's your life going in general? God, we haven't spoken in so long. We really need to keep in touch."

"It's been hard." Mugi replied with her same soft smile. "My heart was heavy for a long time after everything that happened after high school. Everything that reminded me of them hurt so bad, and… I was afraid to see any of you after that. I'm glad you're here though, Mio-chan. I was… I was hoping we could all move on."

Ritsu reached over the kotatsu and put a warm hand on Mugi's silky smooth pale wrist. She offered her a smile and said, "We already have, Mugi." She then looked at Mio. "The drive to Tokyo is a pain, huh?"

"I don't ever think I can move on." Mio admitted with a sigh. "I'm… not as strong as you two. I'm still reeling. I mean… h-how long as it been, Ricchan? S-Since Azusa…"

She couldn't finish the sentence.

"Since Azusa killed herself?" Ritsu finished for her, provoking a cringe from the other two girls. "Nine months. A year and a half since Yui and her sister died. Doesn't feel nearly as long, does it?"

"We… we don't know if Yui died." Mio's voice had fallen to a low mumble. "They… they never found a trace of her. Her sister died, Ritsu, is it so hard to believe she ran away because of that."

Mugi breathed through her nose and whispered, "Mio…"

"Yui's dead." Ritsu said with utmost certainty.

_You wouldn't believe what killed her either. I wish I believed she had just run away. Or maybe Mio's right. Did she die? Hell if I know. Death, the afterlife, mortality, I don't think any of it is certain. _

Ritsu shut her eyes suddenly, blocking out memories of May. She couldn't handle them sober. Things she had not been meant to see were burned into her mind, and she was terrified they would never go away. She wondered if that was how war veterans felt. Did they relive nightmarish memories with clarity that left them shaking? Were they forced to realize just how close they had come to dying?

"Well aren't you morbid?" Mio frowned. Ritsu saw the look of detest in her gray eyes. She was right though, Ritsu thought, she was obviously not as strong as them. Ritsu and Mugi could handle the truth and didn't need false hopes to cover up the black truth of it all.

"No, no, you're right." Ritsu spoke with a sarcastic edge so sharp it risked cutting her tongue. "I'm sure she's just hiding in Kyoto or something. It makes _complete_ sense for someone like her to just abandon her whole life and everyone she loved and cared for. Yep, that sounds _just_ like the Hirasawa Yui I knew. Hell, while we're at it, let's just assume she killed her sister too?"

_Fuck fuck fuck, why did I just say that?_ Ritsu mentally cringed, but remained stalwart on the outside.

"Excuse me for being hopeful!" Mio shouted at Ritsu, more hurt than angry. Ritsu's words had cut her down without even meaning to.

Ritsu stood up abruptly and muttered, "I'm going to the washroom."

"Ah, I am too!" Mugi suddenly exclaimed, standing up as well. "Please, Mio-chan, help yourself to more tea while we're gone."

"I will." Mio briskly replied.

In the washroom, Ritsu slumped against the wall and slid to the floor. She hugged her knees and looked up at Mugi. With a sad sigh, she whispered, "I'm really off my game tonight."

"I think you're frightening her." Mugi whispered and sat beside Ritsu. She reached for her hand, Ritsu took it, and their fingers were laced.

"I know." Ritsu nodded, resting her head against Mugi's shoulder. "Bringing up that whole situation gets me really touchy. It turns me into something ugly and… wow, my heart's beating and my hands are sweating just thinking about it. I don't know about you, but I think it's really hard to believe in any sort of benevolent god when three of your friends wind up dead like that."

Mugi squeezed her hand tighter and shakily whispered, "Sometimes I think I would have ended up like them if you hadn't saved me in May."

Ritsu mentally cringed at those memories. "No, Mugi, that's not what would have happened. Just, uh, count your blessings that you can't think much about it. I don't think you'd want to remember."

"I hate being left in the dark about this." The blonde huffed. "I was there, I remember being ushered into that car with-"

"Look, let's not talk about it." Ritsu cut her off.

"Y-You're right. We have a guest in the other room. Are you going to be okay? We can just tell her you got a headache and need to lie down for a while."

"No, that would inspire Mio to just call this whole trip off." Ritsu sighed and stood back up. She took Mugi's hand and pulled her up as well.

"Alright, just… be careful what you say." Mugi leaned in and kissed Ritsu on the cheek. She kept her lips there and whispered: "Will you ever tell me what happened, Ricchan?"

"You wouldn't believe it."

"I still want to know."

Ritsu exhaled through her nose, smiled, and gave Mugi a quick kiss on the cheek as well. She playfully shook her shoulder and answered, "When I get back, maybe. You gotta get me a little drunk though, or it's not going to come out. For now, I wanna hang out with my old friend, listen to _Acid Bath_, and catch up with her."

Mugi went and opened the door for the two of them, and chuckled, "Mio-chan will probably hate _Acid Bath_."

"I know she will. I just love Jimmy Kyle. Just how many other drummers can manage double-bass in an acoustic blues song?" Ritsu rhetorically asked. _Acid Bath's When the Kite String Pops_ had become one of her favorite albums of late. The aggression, grungy, and sludgy elements with upbeat drums had won her over pretty quickly. As she walked back out into the main room, she casually asked Mugi, "I know you're more into that European traditional music stuff, but there's gotta be some rock bands you listen to, right?"

"Of course." Mugi chuckled at her question. "I used to play keyboard for a rock band after all."

Ritsu sat back down at the kotatsu with Mio and smiled at her. "Sorry about that. Sore subject back there, totally my fault."

"It's okay, Ritsu. I was going to ask actually, are you two still keeping up with music. I still play bass occasionally, but it hasn't been the same."

Ritsu pointed to her electric drumkit in the corner of her apartment with her thumb. "Can't keep a good drummer down, Mio. I still practice all the time, and help Mugi with her music compositions. One of my buddies at the station's a guitarist, and every now and then he rents out a practice space and we play stuff like _Lamb of God_ and _Metallica_ covers."

"My major is in music…" Mugi told Mio. "So I live and breathe music. I've fallen in love with ethnic music from eastern and northern Europe lately. Woodwind instruments, accordions, string instruments. There's so many wonderful sounds from them. "

Ritsu brought up her question from a moment ago, "So what kind of rock bands are you listening to?"

Mugi shrugged sheepishly and answered, "N-Nothing really popular. I like most of what Henri Sorvali does, even if I don't quite like the singers in his bands. _Sankaritarina _is one of my favorite songs lately, as far as rock music goes." She giggled nervously and added, "It inspired me to learn to play the mouth harp. Although I can't play it around Ricchan because she laughs too hard at it."

"Sanka-whatever is the song that's like twenty minutes long, right?" Ritsu asked, trying to refresh her memory.

"It's about fourteen minutes." Mugi corrected. "I impressed my music professor when I added a mouth harp to one of my compositions." She looked to Mio and added. "Ricchan helped me with writing drum pieces for a few months before teaching me how to do it myself."

"That sounds so incredible." Mio replied. "It's making me wish I had done more with music. My major is so boring in comparison."

"Oh, it's very hard work and very creatively straining." Mugi assured her with a shake of her head. "Sometimes my brain just locks up and I cannot think of any good material for a deadline. So I just weedle around on the keyboard, lay down several tracks in different sound settings and put it together. I hate it because it feels so lazy. Then sometimes I work _too_ hard on a piece and midway through it, I just break down asking Ricchan, 'Is this any good? Please tell me if this is good or not!'"

"And it's _always_ good." Ritsu sighed, reaching over to pat Mugi's head.

"My professor and peers have higher standards for piano pieces than you, Ricchan." Mugi chuckled and blushed at being touched. "Although you have a good ear for finding cool new songs for me. What was that game that had that absolutely _gorgeous_ song on the final enemy?"

"_Dark Souls_." Ritsu answered.

"That was it. I just remember it as the game that had the words 'You Died" on the screen most of the time." Mugi subtly teased her.

"Yeah, yeah. " Ritsu muttered and shrugged her off. "Still beat it though."

"You two…" Mio spoke up. "You're… you're so close. I'm sorry about how forward that is, but I can't help but think it. Haha, I'm kind of jealous of you Ritsu. Mugi seems so cool and collected."

Mugi blushed heavily at the comment and looked downward, "Oh, I'm nothing special."

"She's a great roommate." Ritsu nodded, subtly reaching on the kotatsu to hold Mugi's hand without Mio knowing. "We've grown pretty close. There's so much to her that we didn't see in high school, Mio."

The blonde's blush grew stronger.

"It's almost a shame you're not coming with us, Mugi." Mio commented. "Still, maybe it'll be better that way. Ritsu and I need to catch up, and spending the night at my parent's house will be like all those nights in high school, right Ritsu? Maybe we can stop by your parents place and-"

"Nope." Ritsu instantly cut her off. "Mom and Dad's is a no-no. In fact, we gotta make sure that they don't know I'm even in town."

"What? Why!?" Mio gasped.

"Because… we had a fallout." Ritsu answered, looking the other way. "A lot of stuff happened back in May, Mio, right before Mugi and I started rooming. I, uh, don't really wanna talk about it."

She closed her eyes and remembered driving her dad's damaged car into the driveway. She remembered staggering out, her shoulder on fire from pain, and wanting nothing more than to just go to sleep. That wasn't an option; she had no idea how much time she had to get Mugi back. She had never been filled with so much anxiety in her life back at that moment. Nothing came close to the fear of jumping past the threshold of normality into the foggy beyond to bring a friend back.

And no matter what she did, Ritsu couldn't forget.

"Oh, that's alright." Mio bit her lower lip.

Mugi suddenly jumped in to salvage the conversation. "Hey! Why don't we all go out to dinner? I'll buy."

"Oh no, I couldn't make you do that." Mio declined her offer instantly.

Ritsu let go of Mugi's hand and leaved over to playfully elbow Mio. "Then I'll pay for you. Good idea, Mugi. Let's hit that sushi bar down the road so we don't have to drive. Then we can hit the actual bar on the way back!"

"Ricchan!"

"Just a joke Mugi, just a joke."

**5**

It was around midnight when Mio finally began to drift to sleep. She lied curled up in a warm bundle in a futon beside the kotatsu. That night had been interesting, fun, yet a little strange to her. There was something about Ritsu and Mugi she couldn't quite place. Their friendliness, the constant support for one another, the way they finished each other's sentences… Mio realized with a heavy heart that Ritsu had found a new best friend.

But who could blame her? Mio had been so bad at Ritsu for dropping out of university about a year ago that she didn't speak to her for months. Even then, their friendship was mostly text messages and wall posts on social networking sites. She still had no idea the two of them had become best friends and were rooming together. That hurt Mio. It hurt her that Ritsu never bothered to bring it up.

And then there was her attitude to the tragic fate that befell their guitarists and Hirasawa Ui. That evening, Ritsu had been so absolutely casual about stating her pessimism and morbid state on the matter. That hurt Mio too. What had stopped her from breaking down entirely when she learned about Ui being murdered was the belief that Yui was still alive. Mio had convinced herself that Yui had just run away. She would come back, and then things would just return to normal.

_And… and how could Ritsu be so sure?_ Mio wondered. _It's not like she can magically know what happened unless… does she know something I don't? N-No, that can't be. That's not possible._

Mio tried hard not to think about Yui, or Azusa. She had cried for days when Ritsu called her and told her about how Azusa had taken her own life with her dad's service pistol. Mio had felt so empty inside, and she felt like part of that void could never be filled. What hurt Mio more, and filled her with guilt so heavy it threatened to crush her with its weight, was the fact that her first thoughts after Ritsu told her were, '_I guess it was only a matter of time'_.

It went without saying that they were all crushed with what happened with the Hirasawa sisters, but Azusa hadn't rebounded. That rain cloud that appeared over her head after Ui was murdered and Yui disappeared had never gone away. If anything, it got worse. Everywhere Azusa went, there seemed to be this invisible black cloud over her head that just sucked the life out of her and everything around her. Mio remembered with more burdening guilt how much she _hated_ being around Azusa in the following months. All she did was pout, mope, shrug, and play her guitar. Her senpais moved onto university while she dropped out of high school after she just stopped bothering to attend classes.

Mio had wanted to scold her so badly. To just slap her in the face and tell her to move on and live her life. It was hard. It was a tragedy. They were all devastated. Mio, the one who took it almost as hard as Azusa, understood that. The difference was, Mio knew she had the rest of her life still there. The facet that was _Houkago Tea Time_ may have died when Yui disappeared, but that wasn't the end of everything.

And then in February of that year, after so many months of not realizing that little fact, Azusa had just decided to end it all.

Mio decided she was going to patiently wait until the afterlife to tell Azusa just how big of a mistake that was; tell how mad she was inside at her. But, even with those feelings, Mio still hoped Azusa was smiling wherever she was at.

_I just hope you found whatever you were looking for. Sorry we didn't have the answers. You're still an idiot for this though._

Cuddled up in her futon, Mio felt her eyes watering. Her emotions were so scattered. Guilt, anger, confusion, sorrow, they all melded into one monument that stood inside Mio's heart. It… it gave her a spark she hadn't felt in so long. The drive to create music, to sit down with a pen and paper and find the words that matched how she felt. Her fingers longed for the familiar iron touch of cold bass strings. She wanted to feel their roughness as she slid calloused fingertips down the frets.

_I guess this is what Ritsu and Mugi are already doing. I think I understand now. It's a method of coping, an answer right before my eyes I couldn't see. It's so obvious._

Her eyes still watered, but a warm smile crossed her face in the blackness beneath the covers. Somehow at ease, her mind wandered to greener, sunnier pastures. Yet, those pastures weren't the slices of paradise she would have preferred. As Ritsu slept a meter away from her, all Mio could wonder is, _Why?_

Why did they share a one-bedroom apartment when Ritsu could clearly afford something larger? Why was all of Ritsu's stuff in _Mugi's_ room? Just what kind of arrangement did they have?

_Well,_ Mio thought, _We have one hell of a drive tomorrow. I guess I'll get some answers out of her then. I'm sure there's a really simple reason like-_

Her thought was interrupted as she heard a noise. Soft footfalls against carpet. It sounded like Mugi stepping into the living room for something. Mio was tempted to roll over and let Mugi know she was awake, but she was too exhausted and sleepy to bring herself to do so. Instead, she lay there and tried to go to sleep.

"Ricchan?" Mio heard Mugi whisper, followed by the sound of blankets rustling.

"M-Mugi?" Ritsu sleepily whispered back. "W-What's up? I just got to sleep."

"I…I know…" Even right next to her, Mio had trouble making out what they were saying. "Ricchan, I can't sleep. Is… is it alright if we share a futon?"

"Mio's right there." Came Ritsu's sleepy reply. "You know she's gonna think something's up if she wakes up and sees us."

Mugi quietly gigged, "O-Okay, then just come to bed with me then? I'll set the alarm early so you can slip out here undetected."

"Ooh, sounds dangerous." Ritsu replied, just a little more loudly. Mio heard her get up, and the two of them walked away, leaving her alone in the living room.

_What….W-What? _Was all Mio's mind could come up with. _T-They're sleeping together!? This is… this… _

Her mind couldn't fathom it. Mugi was far too innocent to have a lover, especially a gay one at that. And Ritsu? Mio quickly decided that she was getting ahead of herself. There was no way they were having sex. That just wasn't possible. So just what were they doing? Platonically cuddling?

Mio realized that actually made a lot of sense.

_Maybe… maybe they just want someone to share a bed with. Those few times I slept with my ex-boyfriend were spectacular. Just to be held like that and fall asleep in the arms of someone you care about. That's definitely better than sex._

Although it wasn't like Mio knew what she was talking about, being a virgin.

A new emotion suddenly overcame her. Raging envy for Kotobuki Tsumugi. The way Ritsu treated her, and the way she was Ritsu's new best friend struck at Mio's heart like a crossbow bolt. Why did Mugi get Ritsu like that? It wasn't fair! Mio was her childhood friend, so it was only natural that Ritsu would give _her_ that kind of attention.

Her eyes burned with tears, and under the covers of her futon she sniffled once.

_What was wrong with me, Ritsu? I would… I would have shared a bed with you if you ever asked. Why have you and her suddenly become so close? It's like you've forgotten me!_

She quietly cried herself to sleep, but amidst her tears was a single silver lining. She had Ritsu to herself for three days. This was a chance to rekindle their friendship and make it that wonderful thing it used to be. She wasn't exactly trying to _steal_ Ritsu away from Mugi…

_I just need to remind her just what we were…. _

**TO BE CONTINUED**

_**Special thanks to the following (their Fanfiction pen names): **__ProfessorRude for his normal spit and polish and mostly putting up with my constant self-doubt. Genki Collective for spectacularly useful advice regarding the relationship of Mugi and Ritsu and many aspects of it. Dioxine for helping me polish the horror parts. Mister Yada for being a test lab rat so I could know if this really does work as a standalone sequel. I mean, uh, no sequel here boss. _


	2. Spirits Who Mingle

**THE FOREVER NIGHT**

**PART 2**

**SPIRITS WHO MINGLE**

"_There are ghosts in every hallway  
In every room, behind every door  
Peering through every window into the past  
Holding onto us in the bitterness of the mire  
Leaving a trace of themselves in the spaces in which they hide_"

-_Ghosts of the Midwinter Fires_ by _Agalloch _

**Best read at night.**

**1**

"Ricchan!" Called the voice of Ritsu's mother from the back porch of their home. "Ricchan! Where are you? Your room still isn't clean!"

Like a hero from one of her morning cartoons, eight year old Tainaka Ritsu was silent and hidden from the current enemy. Hidden between the bushes and the house beside the back porch, she remained deathly silent as her mother's eyes scanned the back yard for her. Her heart pounded in her chest in the thrill of excitement in being caught. Breathing only through her nose, she was determined to wait her mother out. For some reason, this game of stealth left her with a strange urge to use the restroom.

"She just went in the back yard, right?" Ritsu heard her dad ask.

"Yeah, but I don't see her." Her mother replied with a sigh. "Guess she went inside when I wasn't looking. Sometimes she's just like a little snake."

"You're letting yourself be outsmarted by an eight year-old. Come on, you're letting the AC out." Her father encouraged his wife. Ritsu heard the sound of the sliding glass door closing with its signature thud. Her heart sweltered with relief. The first stage of her plan was complete. Now the day was open to play with Mio.

Ritsu crawled out of the bushes. Her knees were black with dirt, and the stuff had gotten between her sandals and feet. She kicked those sandals off and ran across the yard to the back fence. With a graceful vault she hopped it and was in the clear. Her eight year-old mind was not as cunning as her mother thought. The plan she had concocted boasted a major hole, besides how she risked being spotted running across the yard like that.

When she came home later, hell would be raised at her little deception. It was worth it though. There was a rumor at school that had the hair on everyone's neck standing up. She was going to take Mio and go investigate it like they were detectives. However, she was a little disappointed she couldn't sport a pipe like Sherlock Holmes for the occasion. Instead she wore a pair of small shorts that were great for running in, and a loose tank top that was fashionably tomboyish. It didn't matter how she looked, Ritsu thought, because her outfit was practical for that summer afternoon. To complete the look, she wore her hair in a cute little topknot that made her look quite distinct amidst her classmates.

The way to Mio's house may have well had a rut carved across the ground to it with how many times Ritsu had made the trip. She moved quickly, but was saving her energy. The light jog was pleasant in the warm, muggy air of summer. Around her the cicadas buzzed in their yearly cacophony and provided Ritsu some company. She was even given a pleasant breeze. The smell of blooming flowers and cut grass carried with it, treating her nose with delight. This was not the sort of day to be spent cooped up inside doing chores.

Ritsu cut through several yards, a path she knew by heart, to get to Mio's house. Cutting through someone's side yard, she ended up at the street that had the convenience store she would buy candy at. In front of it was Mio with two other kids from their class. A girl named Nariko who Ritsu sometimes criticized for being too plain, and a boy named Eichiro who was even shyer than Mio, and looked quite nerdy with his bowl-cut and thick rimmed glasses. This was the crew she had to work with to find out this mystery that was going around. Ritsu wasn't particularly impressed, but this was all she had.

Mio was a good addition though. Her sharp mind and good eyes would come in handy.

"Ricchan!" The exceedingly plain Nariko called to her as she crossed the crosswalk.

"Sorry I'm late," Ritsu huffed. "Had to sneak past mom and dad to get out here. They wanted me to do chores, but I'm really good at sneaking. It's 'cause my dad lets me play _Metal Gear Solid_, a _C_ rated game."

The two other kids gasped in amazement while Mio didn't really seem to care. Apparently she didn't understand how mature and cool Ritsu was for being able to play games like that. The tomboy basked in her glory for only a moment before asking, "So are we all ready to go? I'll lead the way. I know right where to go! It's a few kilometers away, but behind this old ladies' home is a hill right to the _woods_."

The very mention of that rumored haunted forest sent dread across the faces of the three others.

"Ricchan… we were thinking…" Nariko began, and Ritsu thought, _Heeeere we go. Can't count on anyone. _"…M-Maybe we should g-go do something else instead. That's a long way to walk and w-what if it really is haunted?"

"Then we can tell everyone at school we went to a haunted forest!" Ritsu answered immediately.

Eichiro spoke up in a weak, quivering voice that made Ritsu wish she had cooler friends, "M-My mom b-b-b-bought me t-the new _Legend of Zelda_ game for my _Nintendo 64_, w-we could all play that instead."

_Damn, _Ritsu's young mind swore, _the only thing nearly as trendy as exploring a haunted forest right now is playing that new game! A Legend of Zelda game for that console probably has the best graphics ever!_

"Yeah, we should do that!" Nariko smiled; relieved a better alternative was presented.

Ritsu looked her silent best friend, "You can go with them if you want, Mio. I'm gonna go to those woods no matter what, by myself even."

That was a bluff. Ritsu wouldn't go anywhere close to those woods alone. The kids at school were all convinced it really was haunted. Apparently some kid's older sister's boyfriend's dad's coworker had said a bunch of people turned up dead in that forest. That there was either evil spirits… or some sort of demon.

Ritsu noticed Mio fidgeting, almost too subtle for anyone else but her to notice. She knew her Mio inside and out, and knew she was thinking about something.

"I won't let Ritsu go by herself." Mio answered in nothing short of a whisper. "T-Th-There aren't _really_ ghosts, r-right?"

Nariko answered before Ritsu did, "Who cares? Let's just go to Eichiro's house and say the woods are just normal woods."

"No, Mio." Ritsu encouraged her. "There aren't. This isn't even about telling everyone we went there."

"Then what's it about?" Mio asked her.

"It's about _knowing_ we were braver than everyone else." Ritsu replied with a smile and reached out to grab Mio's hand. She looked to the other two and playfully stuck her tongue out at them. "See you chickens later!"

She pulled Mio away, jogging as she led her around the corner and down the sidewalk. Behind her, Mio huffed and struggled to keep pace with Ritsu after being pulled so suddenly, "Ritsu, s-slow down!" She stammered, nearly tripping over her own feet. Like Ritsu she was wearing sandals with a pretty mauve sundress over it.

Ritsu obliged, not feeling much like running anymore herself. She looked over her shoulder and smiled, "You picked me over the coolest game out here right now. I'm touched!"  
She made it clear to Mio she was acting, and the raven-haired girl simply sighed and stepped in line with her. "I don't even like video games, Ritsu. If there are no ghosts, which there obviously aren't because there is no such thing, then this will be more fun than watching you drool in front of the television set."

"That reminds me, I hear they're making a second season of _Berserk!_" Ritsu chimed, losing her train of thought.

"I hope they don't!" Mio shivered. Another thought crossed Mio's mind, something along the lines of running and hiding. In a weak whisper, she went against what she had just said earlier and asked: "You meant what you said, right? Th-There aren't _really_ ghosts there, right?"

"You already said yourself there isn't."

"B-But wh-what if there were?"

Ritsu gave Mio a confident smile and put her hand against her chest. "Then I'll keep you safe! No ghosts are getting past me, Mio!"

Something about those words was confidence enough for Mio to follow along on this silly game. It was a strange vibe that Ritsu gave off that told Mio she could do no wrong; that nothing bad could happen to them. It was the aura Ritsu seemed to radiate that gave both of them a strange sense of invincibility. Mio hadn't quite far enough head to wonder perfectly reasonable questions such as, _"Wait, how would Ricchan save me from ghosts?" _Those were problems for her future self.

Around them, the neighborhoods of suburbia were alive with summer activity. Everywhere around them were kids out at play of all ages. People walked their dogs, mowed their lawns, or were just out and about. They stopped midway so Mio could buy them ice cream from some corner store. It wasn't before long that they had almost forgotten about what they were doing entirely. They chatted back and forth about all sorts of things as they walked. School; who was popular this week; which idol was dating which; how cool that last episode of _Sailor Moon_ had been. Ghosts hadn't even crossed their minds until suddenly they were standing before a wooded hill leading into the stretches of undeveloped land that crept on for kilometers.

As if under some strange spell, Ritsu and Mio had forgotten everything they had had been told about going outside without an adult. They knew not to get in the cars of strangers, not to play with animals they didn't know, not to eat candy they found just lying around, and most of all _not to play around the forests without an adult_. Mio in particular had been dreadfully spooked when she overheard her parents talking about some dead body being fished out of a creek in the woods. It had spooked her mother as well, being that the body had belonged to some preteen. Her mother had made some passing mention to her father that it had just been one of many cases like that.

_"It's such a nice neighborhood, how can something like this happen?"_

But Mio had forgotten those words like they had fallen out of her mind completely. The sense of self-preservation and anxiety that nearly dominated her daily life was gone now. It was replaced by a bizarre sense of wonder and curiosity. Before her and Ritsu was the threshold to the great unknown. Ghosts; magic; a whole different world was right in front of them.

"Doesn't look haunted." Ritsu mused, rubbing her invisible beard.

It was so strange. It was the middle of summer, everything up to there had been so green and vibrant… but the woods may have well been in the throes of autumn. The leaves were all across the forest floor, rotted and brown. The trees were barren, standing like wooden spires that were centuries dead. A cold breeze blew towards them from the trees. Silence greeted their ears. The children of a nearby park were quiet. The cars that were a constant drone in the background had stopped. All the cicadas had been killed in one invisible fell swoop of some god's wrath.

And good riddance to them, Ritsu thought of the noisy bugs.

"It's… so mesmerizing." Mio whispered, taking a step forward. Her sandals crunched on dead leaves. She looked to Ritsu, the splendor and wonder of it all causing her to smile. "Come on!"

Mio took Ritsu's hand, startling the other girl. Red flags were popping up in her mind, but the strange aura of the woods was dampening them, lulling her forward. What little self-preservation she had left was screaming in her mind to just go back home and do her god damned chores like a good little girl. Ritsu found a completely alien feeling inside her; a hopelessly strange sense that could never be replicated. A sense of invincibility mixed with apathy. Self-preservation had died, and in its wake was a cold breath of apathy that made her simply not care what happened next.

The only thing shared between them now was the sound of their sandals against dry, dead leaves. They were leaves that shouldn't have been there, yet their young minds simply found ways to rationalize this oddity. There simply had to be some reason, but they didn't understand it - That was what their deductions boiled down to. Step-by-step they moved forward, eyes scanning the lonely and gray landscape for some sign, of, well, anything.

It was no longer about the undead, hauntings, or spirits, but the desire to see something unforgettable no matter what it was. The alien landscape was something else entirely, but they knew there had to be more to it.

Ritsu looked at Mio for a moment, and spoke without thinking: "You know, this is where they both died, right? Azusa and Yui. I don't think we're far from where Azusa shot herself."

Mio adjusted her coat to the cold November wind and shivered slightly. "Should we really be here then? This forest feels… unhallowed."

"There are things you need to see." She answered, adjusting her own leather jacket; the one Mugi liked so much. "You can't understand anything about me until you know what's here. It goes beyond life and death and, hell, reality as we know them, I think. You can't feel how I feel, or believe what I believe, until you see, Mio."

"What?" Mio's voice spoke. It was different now; she was eight years-old again. She looked up at Ritsu, completely confused. "What… are we doing here? What are you trying to show me?"

"Mio…" Ritsu looked down at her, amazed at how small Mio had been when she was younger. Ritsu was nearly twice her height now, and twelve years older. Just what _had_ she brought Mio here to see? Was it death? Why would she want to show a child such a thing, though?

Something caught her eye. A splash of color against the monochrome forest wasteland; bright blue against the peachy color of skin, hanging not far away from her. A body swayed from the branches of the bare oaken monument that seemed too sinister and menacing to have ever been a tree. It was the body of some junior high school girl, a victim of a nameless evil. The death looked like suicide, but Ritsu knew it was more than that. It was a malevolence that forced that girl's hand.

Ritsu was transfixed on that girl. She pulled her coat closer and shivered. The corpse swayed gently with the wind, looking peaceful, yet transposed in complete and total agony. She blinked, and she felt like the distance between her and the body had shortened. Brown, bulging eyes of death looked down at her, like the eyes of some wretched insect. Ritsu swallowed hard.

"So you're a ghost?" She asked up at the body. She spoke in her 'policewoman' voice. A strong, authoritarian tone that was slightly condescending. She didn't get an answer.

The rope around the girl's neck seemed to tighten without moving. Blackish blood dripped from where it cut into her skin. Ritsu bit her lower lip and lowered her head. The sounds of globs of dark blood dripping on the leaves were hard to listen to. Suddenly she felt very, very alone. It was like everything outside her field of vision had simply ceased to exist.

She turned to Mio, little Mio who… Ritsu had forgotten the reason they had come together. A surge of panic entered her when she saw Mio on her knees. There was a look of surprise on the small girl's face.

"Mio!" Ritsu exhaled, and tried to step forward to her. It was impossible, like trying to move underwater against some invisible current. Frustration and an increase in panic scrambled to override her other emotions. A thin red line appeared across Mio's neck as she sat on her knees, looking up at Ritsu with a blank face but terrified eyes. Ritsu tried to shout her name, but no sound came. The line on Mio's neck became bigger, and a tide of crimson began to flow from it freely. Some invisible wire or rope was cutting into her, suffocating her, and slitting her throat.

And Ritsu was helpless. Suddenly her breath wasn't coming easy. She silently choked as a stinging pain erupted across her neck.

**2**

Kotobuki Tsumugi had been fast asleep and contently dreaming of adjusting sound levels for a song she was working on. In her dream, she had her own studio, but there was there was a tiny amount of feedback from the vocal track she couldn't quite get rid of… Her dream was abruptly ended Ritsu moved sharply beside her in bed.

Her sleepy blue eyes cracked open and she looked at the alarm clock. It was 5:30 in the morning, and with only five hours of sleep, she felt like just closing her eyes and sleeping four more. She would have, but something was obviously wrong. She felt Ritsu moving slightly beside her, and it took a moment for her sleep-addled mind to register just what was going on.

"R-Ricchan?" She gave a sleepy yawn and sat up. Hair a mess and the strap of her nightshirt down around her elbow, Mugi felt horribly improper. She pulled the strap up around her shoulder and looked to Ritsu.

Her girlfriend was sitting up, and was trembling heavily. She was biting her lip as tears poured from her eyes. She desperately was trying to fight them back, and looked like she was holding her breath. "Can't breathe…" She choked out through gritted teeth. "Something's trying to kill me…"

She reached out and grabbed a handful of Tsumugi's nightshirt. The desperate look in her eyes told the blonde she meant every one of those words. Mugi knew otherwise, she knew exactly what this was. Her heart sank with sympathy and she grabbed Ritsu into a tight embrace, cradling her like a child.

"Shhh…" She whispered, and stroked her hair. "You're okay, Ricchan, nothing's hurting you."

Ritsu took a sharp, deep breath and winced hard, grabbing tighter to Mugi's shirt. Barely coherent past her sobs, she whimpered out, "C-C-Call… the hospital… t-think I'm having a heart at-"

"No you're not." Mugi cut her off in a gentle voice. "You're having a panic attack, Ricchan. Shh, try to control your breathing."

From the corner of her eye, Mugi saw Mio stand in the doorway to their room. In the darkness of the early November morning, she wasn't much more than a shadow illuminated by the alarm clock. Suddenly, Ritsu tried to push away from her, gasping out, "_W-Who is that_!?

"It's just Mio-chan." The blonde softly whispered to her, not letting her get away. It was hard keeping here there. Even if Mugi outweighed her, Ritsu was still very toned and athletic.

"It can't be her!" Ritsu blurted out in a desperate voice. "I just saw her… I just saw d-"

"You were having a nightmare." This confirmed Mugi's suspicions. This was the fourth time Ritsu had woken out of a nightmare completely hysteric in the last six months. The first time had been absolutely horrifying for Mugi. Every time Ritsu had a panic attack, she mistook it for a heart attack, and would plead that she was taken to the hospital. Mugi had done it once and only once, told by the staff there to only bring her again if the panic attack lasted more than an hour or so.

"Y-You don't understand!" Ritsu argued in her hysterics, staring straight at Mio. "Who are you!? You're not her!"

Mugi looked to Mio, who stood there with a complete bewildered look on her face. "Mio-chan… could you go prepare tea, please?"

"R-Really, I mean, uh, yeah, yes!" Mio stammered and practically stumbled away. Mugi saw lights in the rest of the house come on.

Ritsu tried to shove away from Mugi again. "Let go of me! Sh-she's still out there, Mugi! Come on, I know where she's at. I'm not going to let her die!"

"Ricchan!" Mugi raised her voice and grabbed hold of Ritsu's shoulders. "Mio-chan is in the other room making tea for us. She's okay. You were only having a bad dream."

"A bad dream?" Ritsu repeated, and suddenly looked more terrified. "No, no, I'm still dreaming! This isn't real! Why can't I wake up!?"

"Ricchan." Still keeping her cool, Mugi held tight to her shoulders as Ritsu tried to fight away. "Look into my eyes."

"_Let go of me!_" Ritsu shouted back at her. She jerked away from Mugi's grip and slapped her hard against the cheek. Mugi felt herself reeling backwards; face igniting with pain as her eyes burned with tears. The taste of blood was in her mouth, although it wasn't strong. Sitting back up she watched Ritsu dash towards the restroom and lock herself in there.

That was it. Tsumugi's calm was broken at that slap. Frustrated and more than a little afraid, she shouted to Ritsu: "_I'm not helping you next time! That's a promise!_"

There was no answer. Why should there have been? Ritsu didn't even think she was real. Tears were now streaming down Mugi's face as she grabbed the sheets around her in fistfuls. She let herself cry, and knew that she was lying to herself. She _would_ help next time. She'd help even if Ritsu bent her arm backwards and dislocated it from the socket (which was something Ritsu bragged about learning at the Police academy). No matter what happened, she'd still love Ritsu more than anything.

She wished Ritsu hadn't slapped her. Not because it hurt her physically, or even emotionally, but because she knew things were going to get awkward when Ritsu came down from her panic attack. It was a crack in their relationship, and Mugi didn't know how easily it would fill. It brought on a very scary notion: the simple idea of ever losing her Ricchan. To go back to the endless days of nothing; the endless loneliness; living alone and going to a university where she had no friends. It was horrifying to think about.

It had all been so tolerable before, but the idea of going back to her single life was enough to stir anxiety in her. Ritsu was so perfect, everything Mugi could ever want in a person, which made it so easy to forgive that slap to the face. The problem was, Mugi knew Ritsu would have trouble forgiving herself.

_Then again… _Mugi thought with a degree of self-deprecation, _I'm not stupid. I know a lot of this relationship is founded purely on her guilt for something that happened to me that I don't even know about. Well, that's how it started at least. There's something here now, something between us that's more special than anything else in the world. I think… that's all I should think about right now. _

**3**

Hot water couldn't erase shame, guilt, or self-loathing but it at least brought with it fatigue. Fatigue brought with it apathy, and apathy brought with it acceptance. After forty-five minutes of lying down in a hot shower, Ritsu felt ready to accept how much a shitty person she was and go face the music.

When her panic attack ended, she had crept from the restroom to the bathroom undetected and resigned to a long and well needed shower. Since she never locked the door, Mugi had come in for a brief moment to set her down a change of clothes. She knew what Ritsu liked to wear, and had picked an outfit accordingly. Ritsu was so touched by that level of detail Mugi had picked up on that she felt even worse about herself.

The nightmare and the overwhelming anxiety that had come with it were almost forgotten in the flood of burning hatred she felt for herself over what she had done. As she lay on her back, letting what was left of the hot water scald her bare chest, she looked at her right hand. It looked just the same as the other, but she knew it was different. It was the hand that slapped the single sweetest, most caring and loving person in the world in cold blood. She hated it. She wished she had her service .38 with her so she could fire off all six shots into that hand.

All the tears had been spent, and now all she could do was lie there in quiet reflection at what she had done. Nothing justified it, but… what scared her most was how during the throes of the attack, she could barely remember anything.

She had been in the forest, watched Mio dying, and then… whatever was killing Mio came for her next. She had felt it choking her, and her heart was beating so fast she thought she was going to die. It wasn't an expression; she remembered thinking, "_This is it. I'm going to die here." _It was blurry from there. Next thing she knew she was in the bathroom with the awareness that she had slapped her girlfriend like some abusive drunk. It was strange, like she had blacked out but woken up with the knowledge of what she had done, yet the inability to recall it in any detail.

The water turned cold and she finally sat up to turn it off. Her hands and feet were pruned like raisins. The near hour of hot water turned the bathroom into a sauna, which Ritsu found comfort in. She was tempted to just lounge there for another hour or so. She didn't want to face either of them out there.

_Mio probably hates my guts now. I snapped at her yesterday, snuck away last night to leave her alone in the living room, and there's no way she missed what happened when I woke up. I wouldn't be surprised if she already left._

Head down, Ritsu opened the door to the shower and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw who was there. Mugi sat against the wall where the heater was near the floor. She had a towel resting against it for Ritsu, which means it was going to be very warm. Even after what happened that morning, she had gone out of her way to another little good deed.

"Mugi…" She couldn't do much more than muster that name as she looked down at the blonde. Dressed in her yukata, she simply sat casually and smiled up at Ritsu.

_I don't deserve her… She's too good for me. I'm so bad for her, and she doesn't even see it._

"Towel?" Mugi offered a very natural smile and presented the thick, dark red towel. Ritsu took it and wrapped it around herself. She leaned against the wall and slid down it to side beside Mugi.

"I fucked up." She said plainly, hanging her head down. "Whatever you're going to say or do, I deserve it."

To her surprise, her girlfriend gave a quiet giggle and whispered. "I was going to say you still owe me for yesterday." She wrapped her arms around Ritsu's shoulder and kissed her cheek. Ritsu remained motionless, feeling entirely unworthy of being in this beauty's arms.

"I know what you're doing, Mugi." Ritsu sighed, gently trying to shrug her away. "You're sweeter than anything, but please… I did something terrible. Don't give me positive reinforcement for it."

"Ricchan…" Mugi put her hand against Ritsu's cheek and turned her head to look her in the eyes. Ritsu was instantly lost and transfixed on those two gorgeous blue orbs. They were so enchantingly beautiful she thought they could cure cancer with their sheer brilliance. "…You thought you were dreaming and that Mio was dead. I know these panic attacks are something I can't understand. I don't know what it's like for you so it's easy for me to forgive you."

"You're an angel, babe." Ritsu found herself smiling for a second. "I hope you never know what it's like to have one of them. I wouldn't wish it on anyone… I don't want to scare you, but… god dammit, I thought I was dying!"

"Shh…" Mugi whispered and leaned in to give her a short kiss on the lips. "Like I said before, you still owe me for last night. If you're going to be gone for a few days, I need all the Ricchan I get before then."

Her playful and seductive grin caught Ritsu off guard. Without even realizing it, Ritsu found Mugi gently pushing her onto the ground. Suddenly that towel wasn't covering much of anything, and Mugi was on top of her. She easily found it in her to return that smile though. Ritsu reached up and gently pinched the blonde's lower lip with her thumb and forefinger. "Who are you and what did you do with that little Kotobuki Tsumugi I knew in high school?"

Smiling harder, Mugi replied, "That little Kotobuki Tsumugi fell in love. We're all alone for a little bit Ricchan. Mio-chan is going to make us breakfast, but there's no food in the house so-"

"We have food." Ritsu corrected her, an incredulous look dawning on her face.

Mugi's smile became cunning. "She didn't know that… and the directions to the supermarket I gave her were a little elongated. By my estimation - and I am an advanced calculus student if my credibility comes into question about this - we have roughly an hour to ourselves."

Ritsu found herself laughing hard. "You… you're amazing, babe! I didn't think I had it in you!"

"Who do you think I learned it from?" Mugi smirked and bent down to touch her nose against Ritsu's. "Now… I want to help you forget all about that bad dream you had. Just lie back and just think about me, okay? Me and you, just us; nothing else at all."

"Bad dream? Already forgot about it." Ritsu smiled at her, lying. "Come on, let me dry off and then we can take this to the bedroom…"

**4**

"We're both adults here. I think something needs to be said about this morning." Ritsu told Mio as she packed her duffel bag with the changes of clothes. Mugi was in the kitchen washing the dishes from breakfast. Breakfast had been heavy with an air of awkwardness as not a word was said about what happened with Ritsu's panic attack. Ritsu hated it, how forced and unnatural all their conversations felt.

All conversation topics had diverged to weather, what Mugi and Mio were doing and school, and what Ritsu's job was like. These were conversations Ritsu had with Mugi's parents the one time she went out to dinner with them as a group. Forced polite subjects that existed simply to take up time and create some excuse to interact verbally. Ritsu hated it so much.

"Mugi told me everything she said I needed to know." Mio replied, sitting at the edge of the two's bed. "I'm so sorry you're having these anxiety problems. Are you taking medication for that?"

Ritsu shook her head. "No, those things make you go crazy and suicidal. Normally Mugi gets me through _episodes_ like that, but… this morning I was just fucking delirious, it was awful."

"I know… I saw." Mio sighed. "Are you going to be okay though…? I mean, for this trip?"

"Of course." Ritsu eagerly nodded with a smile. "It's going to be like junior high again, spending three nights in a row at your house during our breaks. I'd go with you even if I hadn't been able to get time off work. The captain is a really cool guy; I think he wouldn't even care if I just didn't show up for work for three days. I actually got a chance to jam with the guy since he's a guitarist and one of our other coworkers is a bassist. We got clashing musical ideas. Captain's all _Burzum_, _Emperor,_ and _Morbid Angel_; our bassist-buddy is all _Avenged Sevenfold_, _Bullet for my Valentine,_ and _Bring me the Horizon_. I'm somewhere in the middle, and it's hard to find a good compromise."

"Sounds fun." Mio's reply was curt and quiet. "I don't really play bass anymore. Just... I don't know. I don't really have the passion like I used to. Too much stuff is going on with school anyway."

Something about that saddened Ritsu. She had attributed Mio to the bass guitar for so long, and to hear her potentially giving up on the instrument was a hard pill to swallow. Giving a sigh, and stopping what she was doing, Ritsu replied, "Well, maybe we could get together and play something for old time's sake. I know Mugi would love it, and don't feel intimidated when she starts going on about how you played something sixteenth beat too early at some point, or that the problem lies with you and not weird-ass 17/4 time signatures. I'm just messing around, she's not that bad. She's just an advanced music theory student."

"I'm kind of jealous of her." Mio gave a sheepish grin and scratched the back of her head. "It's like she took what we were doing, and brought it to a whole new level. Maybe I'll take you up on that offer. Sometime around Christmas is probably best."

Ritsu nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that reminds me of how I'm still working on getting Mugi a present. She's wanting to pick up the guitar to broaden her musical horizons even more, but being the little perfectionist she is, the little pawnshop _Stratocaster_ we have in the closet isn't good enough. Thinking of picking her up some seven-string since she has her heart set on writing songs tuned to G#."

"She really _is_ a whole level above us." Mio sighed, slumping down the side of the bed to sit against it on the floor. She held her knees close to her chest and hugged them, wiggling her toes against the plush carpet. "We kind of got sidetracked. Ritsu, why didn't you tell me you had these… _problems_?"

"It's not easy to really bring up, Mio." Ritsu shuffled backwards to sit beside Mio. "What was I supposed to say? '_Hey Mio-chan, I got brain problems and sometimes I wake up totally hysteric, think I'm going to die, and start hitting people'_. It's only happened a few times before, but… it wasn't ever this bad. Except maybe the first time, because I had managed to convince Mugi I was actually dying. God, I feel like such an ass for that."

"Well, it's not really your fault is it, right?"

Ritsu shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Maybe I should get help for it, but… It sort of feels like I'm admitting defeat at that point. Besides, I got Mugi to hold my hand through anything and everything. Bless her, she's an absolute angel."

Mio nodded to that, and carefully replied, "…Is…Is that why you two are sleeping together? I mean, s-sharing the same bed?"

That caught Ritsu off guard. She had completely forgotten about the repercussions of Mio finding out about their bedding arrangement. She felt stupid for going along and sleeping in the bed last night instead of just roughing it on the floor. Still, it was scary to think what would have happened if Mugi wasn't there in the first place.

"That about sums it up." Ritsu whispered and nodded. "Back in May, when we talked to Azusa's mom and learned what happened to her… it… it was really hard, Mio. Azusa's mom was such a wreck. The house was really dirty; there were empty bottles of liquor everywhere. Azusa was so responsible back in the club, so it was kind of astounding to see her mom living like such an animal, and I was kind of glad we didn't see her dad. But, after we met her, things just… turned really gray."

"Turned really gray?" Mio repeated.

"Mhm. I don't know how else to describe it. There wasn't any color anymore, and the rain wouldn't let up." Ritsu explained, barely understanding what she meant herself. "It sort of helped me realize that it was all gone. _The Light Music Club_ feels like a whole other life to me now. I feel like the me then was a different person completely. Sometimes I have trouble remembering what Yui's voice sounds like, and other times I can't get it out of my head. Her… Ui… Azusa, they're like ghosts now. Maybe that's what's triggering my anxiety, but I don't know. There are other things too."

Mio reached her arm around Ritsu's shoulder and pulled her a little close. Whispering in a voice that sounded on the verge of tears, she replied, "I know exactly what you mean. Part of me is really afraid to go back home. I'm terrified of seeing ghosts there."

"We can stay here instead if you're worried." Ritsu offered.

Mio gave a sigh and answered, "Even if there are ghosts, which there obviously aren't because no such things exist, I still really want to see my parents again. It's kind of been a while, and they'd like to see you too. Maybe we could pay Sawako a visit too. Anyway, we should get going soon, it's a good five hour drive and it's already pretty late into the morning."

"Hopefully we can make it before lunch." Ritsu sighed and crawled towards her luggage to finish her light packing.

"T-There aren't actually any ghosts, are there?" Mio asked her in a weak whisper, going against what she said moments ago.

"You already said yourself there aren't."

"B-But wh-what if there were?"

Ritsu looked over her shoulder and gave Mio a confident smile and put her hand against her chest. "Then I'll keep you safe! No ghosts are getting past me, Mio!"

**5**

"Well Mugi, I'll see you Tuesday, okay?" Ritsu set her duffle bag down for a moment to give her girlfriend a goodbye hug as Mio stood next to her.

Mugi eagerly accepted the hug and said, "Stay safe and have fun, okay? Keep out of trouble too."

Ritsu chuckled at that. "Jeez, I'm a cop, you know?" On her leather jacket, she was wearing her police badge, the silver-wreathed silver emblem with a single gold bar. It was a nice little perk that let her skip lines in convenience stores and not have to pay for sodas every now and then.

"Just makes me worry a little bit more."

"Hey, I've only made two arrests, both of which were kids as old as my brother. This is not a dangerous job." Ritsu gave her a reassuring smile.

Mugi chuckled to herself. "Maybe you're right. I keep forgetting you're up in the nice neighborhoods here in the city. No Yakuza there, right? Ah well, just keep safe."

Purely on instinct, Mugi followed a ritual that took place every morning before Ritsu went to work. It was so natural to her she didn't even think about who was standing barely a meter away. Tsumugi leaned forward and kissed Ritsu on the lips for only a passing moment.

"Y-Yeah." Ritsu blushed furiously, knowing full well they had just fucked up. "Just, uh… uh. I'll be back on Tuesday."

She reached down and picked up her things as Mugi gave a quick, awkward bow before shuffling out of the entry hall to the kitchen.

Ritsu gulped hard and looked to Mio. Her black-haired friend had a blank, but surprised expression worn on her face. In her head, Ritsu was kicking herself over and over, taking full blame for what had just happened even if Mugi had been the one to kiss her. "Come on Mio… let's uh… let's get out of the city before traffic picks up."

Mio silently nodded, and followed Ritsu out of the apartment to the elevator that would take them to the ground floor where the garage was. Normally Ritsu would have gone through her usual griping about how painfully slow the elevator was; how it took too long to reach the ground level; how she could walk the eight flights of stairs faster than this; but this time she was silent. She could still feel the touch of her girl's lips on hers. Normally it was a feeling that was like a narcotic that got her ready for the grind ahead. This time it felt like a big stamp of evidence revealing what should have been secret to Mio.

They made it to the garage below. It was a dark expanse lit up by orange lights that cast a peculiar glow. Ritsu passed her own car sitting idle in its spot on the way to Mio's. Still no words were spoken between them, and Ritsu was feeling a heightened sense of anxiety towards the conversation ahead. Her mind spun with ideas - excuses - to subvert Mio's impending questions. She thought about just saying that it was just a friendly kiss that didn't mean anything.

_No, that's really lame. She already knows something is up. I can pin sleeping with Mugi with my anxiety issues, but not this._

She then considered simply playing dumb and saying she had no idea where that kiss had come from.

_That would be throwing her under the bus though, and I won't do that. If anyone is taking the fall, it's going to be me._

Ritsu put her things in the back seat of Mio's silver 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe. It felt like too big a vehicle for Ritsu, but she was still moderately impressed with it. As she hopped into the passenger seat, she couldn't help but enjoy the 'new car' smell it had. Feeling a little more relaxed, she commented, "Nice ride you got, Mio."

"Thanks." Mio answered as she settled in the driver's seat. Her eyes were focused down at the wheel as she white-knuckled it. To Ritsu, Mio seemed so small in that seat, and part of her wanted to be the one driving. She couldn't help but notice how similar this car was to the one that had taken out the taillight of her dad's Toyota Camry when she had been driving it back in May. _  
_Ritsu shook off the memory, not wanting to remember anything else that had happened that night. Sexual abuse, a grazing gunshot wound, running until her legs nearly gave out… it all felt like something out of a dream. A light scar on her shoulder told a different story. She sat in silence, just trying to think about something else. She thought about dinner and movie dates with her girlfriend. She thought about how Mugi's head felt against her shoulder as they watched some French romance film in a theater. She thought about how Mugi would gasp happily and cling to her when something lovey-dovey happened on screen. Mugi was such a sap for that kind of stuff.

Outside, the sky was gray and it was drizzling slightly. Other than that, it was just a normal Tokyo day.

_It was raining like this back in May…_

Silently, the two of them rode on as Mio expertly navigated the streets. Ritsu was impressed; Mio was an extremely good driver. Cautious, yet not overbearingly so like Mugi. Ritsu wouldn't ever say it out loud, but if there was ever the option, she would drive in place of Mugi. The blonde absolutely refused to cut people off or do anything that would inconvenience them in the slightest. Sometimes she was too sweet for her own good.

"Wanna get lunch while we're in the city?" Ritsu asked, feeling like her voice was strangely hollow. "Turn up here and go like three blocks down. There's a _McDonalds_ on that street. I'll pay."

"Well, if you're paying…" Mio quietly replied and made the turn right ahead. "Hmm, we used to eat there a lot in high school, didn't we? Mugi was really cute back then, because she hadn't ever eaten at a fast food place."

"It kind of stops being cute when you think about it." Ritsu told her in an equally quiet voice. "I met her parents once and only once, Mio. They were some of the most out of touch people I had ever met. Her dad kept going on about how much money she'll make when she invests and starts her own record label; something she has never once said anything about. He just decided that's what she should do with her master's. Keep in mind; he's paying for her to study music in two other countries when she gets her B.A. first. Nobody studies music in New York and Helsinki to go on and become a corporate monster."

"It kind of makes sense given the impression of him I already have." Mio commented. "Still, he's going to be sorely disappointed when she goes on to do her own thing."

"You're telling me. She's a creature of passion, not business, Mio. Her mom though… it's crazy how similar they look, but at the same time being around her put me off more than listening to her dad ramble on about business and money."

"What's wrong with her mom?"

"Nothing wrong with _her_ specifically, but…" Ritsu took a deep breath, trying to find just the right words. They pulled into the lot of the _McDonalds_ and Mio found them a parking spot. She killed the engine and Ritsu sat back, raising her feet to rest them on the dashboard. "I cannot figure out how these two could have possibly met. Her mom is like, Austrian or Hungarian, or something… I don't know. You know how back in the day, people would pay for people in Europe to Migrate over here? They'd live as servants; get name-changes, and all that stuff? I think that's how Mugi's mom ended up here or at least someone in her family. I can't even remember her first name; it was some Scandinavian or Slavic word I can't even pronounce. Anyway, she barely spoke a word, looked really uncomfortable, and when she did talk her Japanese was barely fluent."

Mio opened her door asked, "So… does that make her-"

"A mail order bride?" Ritsu finished for her and opened her door too.

"That's a bit blunt, but… yeah, that's what I was thinking." Mio nodded to her. "It's kind of weird to think stuff like that still happens."

"Weird? It's fucking disgusting!" Ritsu blurted out as she slammed the door shut. "Her mom is just some trophy wife whose sole purpose in life is to stand next to him at cocktail parties and look good. The more I think about him, the more I really hate her dad. This is the guy who refused to let her have friends of her own for the first half of her life, and instead handpicked some playmate for her just to keep her occupied. You have no idea how infinitely grateful I am that not only did the apple fall far from the tree, but it rolled down a hill, crossed a road, and someone built a brick wall between it and the tree."

"You only met him once though. You can't judge a person completely based of that." Mio seemingly tried to remain the voice of neutrality.

"You'd be feeling the same way if you met him." She grumbled as they entered the restaurant. It wasn't too crowded, but definitely was receiving traffic. They placed their orders to the cashiers, and Ritsu noticed how employees in this place always seemed to be the loneliest, decrepit, and sad looking people in the world. Like Mugi would have, Mio went the safe route with some salad. Ritsu got the same thing she always got, the number thirteen. She had no idea what it was, and made a game out of refusing to ever look up at the menu. It had started with going to lunch with some coworker; just having what he was having, and liking it. Whatever the burger was, it had bacon and that was good enough.

They found a secluded booth and sat there. Ritsu overheard people griping about the cold, passionately claiming global warming was a hoax and behaving as if cold snaps were entirely new things. She sighed and decided that if Mio said one word about the weather, than she was going to just take her fries and dump them on the ground.

The two ate in silence for a few minutes as Ritsu stared at the window, watching cars come and go through the drive-thru. Sometimes the bustle of society was interesting to just sit, watch, and speculate on. All the people, scurrying around like ants, wanting everything done as fast and convenient as possible; it was one of the facets of city life. Ritsu considered transferring to another prefecture when Mugi went to study music in Helsinki in a couple years. The city life just wasn't for her.

Her chain of thought was broken when Mio gently nudged her shin with her foot to get her attention. Ritsu glanced over at her and smiled, "So whose music are we listening to for this trip? I got my mp3 player in my pocket and list of bands I'm sure you'll love."

"We can take turns." Mio answered, returning the grin.

"Okay, but if you play something like _Gangam Style_ around me, you'll see just how fast a carjacking can turn into a murder." She jokingly threatened. "Maybe we should play it safe and go with the classics. Something tells me you won't appreciate _Death_ as much as I do."

Mio shrugged. "I don't know. I'm drawing blanks with all these bands you're mentioning. Does Mugi like any of them? Her music tastes seem kind of… not really in line with yours."

Ritsu sipped her soda and thought for a moment. "She's got some appreciation here and there. Rock, pop, metal, none of that's really her speed, although the Captain I was telling you about says her taste in extreme metal isn't bad." She chuckled for a moment and added, "Said she'd get an instant pardon for any traffic violation for liking _Falkenbach's ...Magni Blandinn Ok Megintiri..._"

"Well, I can't help but wonder…" Mio suddenly looked very nervous, like she was choosing her words like someone would choose the last spaces of a long Minesweeper game. "…You talk about her a lot, and you two are… uh, living together and seem to be very, very friendly. Just… what do you two do? I really don't want to sound rude, and I know I am, but I just don't see anything in common. This sounds so bad, but just being around Mugi yesterday and this morning sort of reminded me why I stopped talking to her, and didn't really spend time with her in high school. She's so sweet and nice, yeah, but… she's kind of really boring."

"Boring?" Ritsu blinked.

"Yeah, I just don't have any common interests with her and… do you?"

"Of course I do." Ritsu answered immediately and defensively. "We both obviously love music."

"Okay. So what, does that mean me and Norwegian black metal bassists who burn churches have common interests? Should I start dating one of-"

"What the hell is your problem?" Ritsu cut her off, feeing anger rise. "Since when do I have to justify my friendship with someone I've known for five whole years? We get along great, we do stuff together, and she's the best…" She suddenly stopped herself and swallowed hard, nearly saying _girlfriend_, "…she's the best _roommate_ I could ask for."

"She's your roommate?" Mio's voice dripped with incredulity as she crossed her arms.

"Yeah, and friend." Ritsu answered, feeling the urge to just call this whole trip off and bus back to her apartment. She was _mad_ that Mio would start saying things like this.

Mio stood up with her tray and left the booth. "I'm not hungry anymore. I'll wait for you in the car."

Ritsu exhaled through her nose and looked down at her half-eaten meal. She was hungry still, but didn't feel like eating. She wanted to know where this had suddenly come from. Mio's words repeated themselves in her head over and over again. Ritsu realized something: Mio had let on that she thought her and Mugi were dating; or at least implied it in her own way. She was astounded just how easily she and Mugi had let that little secret out after being so determined to hide it.

_Jesus Coffee-drinking Christ we really dropped the ball here… _She thought and went to just toss her own food out, hating herself a little for it. Stomping after Mio, she opened the passenger side door of her car, hopped in, and slammed it behind her.

"So what's the problem?" She asked Mio in her 'police authority' voice.

"I feel like you're keeping secrets from me." Mio shot back in a frustrated tone, pausing on starting the car. "You have this borderline obsession with a person I can barely see you being friends with. Like yesterday when you two said you see a lot of European foreign films, namely romance ones. Ritsu, you _hate_ those movies and would make fun of me constantly when I was thirteen for liking them. Now all of a sudden you not only no longer hate them, but go see them with someone happily?"

"You're giving me shit because I'm different than I was seven years ago?" Ritsu raised an eyebrow. "Cut me a break, will you? You're still my best friend, Mio."

Mio exhaled through her nose and slouched in her seat slightly, like that had caught her off guard. She sighed, and quietly said, "Thanks… that kind of makes me feel better. I'm not… I'm not j-"

"You're jealous." Ritsu smirked and reached over to shake Mio's shoulder playfully. "Look, Mugi and I ran into each other at a very hard point in our lives. We helped each other get through it, and some of her rubbed off on me. My interests, her interests, they both kind of mingle together in a way. You're my best friend, but… she's-"

"What is she, Ritsu?" Mio asked without looking at her. She turned the key in the ignition like this conversation was suddenly over. "I know you guys are keeping some secret from me. I just… I just don't want to think about it. It's a little sad thinking about how I don't know as much about you as I thought I did."

"What do you mean?" Ritsu asked, reaching into her jacket pocket for her mp3 player. She suddenly felt very nervous about what was going to come next.

"Ritsu…" Mio whispered as she pulled back into the street, beginning their journey once more. "You… You know if there was anyone who'd understand, it'd be me.'

"Mio, what are you talking about? I don't think you know what-"

Mio cut her off, "Look, you're not doing a good job of hiding this. Sharing a one bedroom apartment; fawning over her constantly; _sharing a bed_; suddenly not wanting to see your parents without giving me a reason; and then how… how she k-k-"

"Look, I know that all sounds strange but…" Ritsu gave a sheepish, awkward laugh, unsure of just what to say there. "It's… it's like back when you thought I had a secret boyfriend, but it was just-"

_"It's nothing like that!_" Mio snapped at her. "She kissed you, Ritsu, she _kissed_ you and you two are sleeping together. What is this then!? If you're gay you could have told me!"

"I'm not gay." Ritsu instantly replied with a slight wave of her arms. "If you really have to know, yeah, Mugi is. I'm not though. It looks weird, I know but-"

"Just shut up." Mio cut her off with a grumble. "I don't want to hear your music either. Just let me drive."

"Look, I can explain everything!"

"I don't want to hear it! You might not think you're gay or in a relationship with her, but she obviously thinks you're both, Ritsu. How could you just… just put on this façade!? You're terrible!" Mio was nearly in tears.

"It's not like that." Ritsu muttered, amazed at just how easily she had been seen through. "It's not a façade, Mio. Sure, I guess she's my girlfriend, and we're dating and doing everything a couple does but… I owe it to her. I almost got her killed earlier this year."

"_You what!?_"

Ritsu instantly wondered just why the hell she thought saying that was a good idea. Mio suddenly and sharply veered off the road, screeching her tires as she parked against the sidewalk. Several horns blared from behind them, and Mio looked like she was ready to pounce into the passenger seat and throttle Ritsu.

"Let me get this straight. You nearly got someone _killed_ so you're faking a relationship to alleviate your guilt!?" Mio grabbed at Ritsu's shirt collar to scream in her face. "_What is wrong with you!? _How could you be this bad!? I don't even know who you are anymore!"

Ritsu shoved her off back into her own seat with a great push. "_I'm not faking it!_" She screamed back. "I jumped into this thing really unsure, but that was six months ago, Mio! I just told you she's my girlfriend; we're dating, and all that fun stuff. I didn't start this because I was guilty; I started this because nearly losing her made me change my perspective on life. So just start driving and stop throwing stones at things you don't understand!"

Mio gave a quiet growl and turned back into the road, cutting someone off and provoking another horn blare. Ritsu was silently amazed at just how much of an angry driver she was.

"What did you do, Ritsu?" She asked in that same quiet growl, knuckles white against the wheel.

"What do you mean, what _did_ I do?"

"You said you nearly killed her!"

Ritsu raised her voice again, "That is _not_ what I said! I said she… I said it was my fault, not that _I_ did it. I made her mad, she stormed off, and predators were around. That's as simple as it gets."

"That's not simple at all." Mio growled. "I'm so mad at you right now I can barely think. How could you hide all of this from me!? I thought I said you were my best friend."

"You are." Ritsu reiterated. "I was just scared, okay? This isn't light stuff, you know. You're not exactly the most even tempered person either."

"_Thanks_." Mio slammed her fist on the dashboard and shot a look at Ritsu with daggers in her eyes. "Just stop talking to me for now. Let's preserve whatever the hell is left between us for when we get there."

"Whatever you want, babe." Ritsu muttered to herself and went through her jean pockets for her headphones. She was in the mood for angry, aggressive music to lose herself to. Her choice was something her police captain had recommended, _Dissection's Storm of the Light's Bane_. She even got the cool limited edition Japanese version with a random piano instrumental shoved in between two songs.

She leaned her head on the window and sat in amazement at just how fast that had escalated into something ugly. She and Mio had got into plenty of fights, this was nothing different. She was already thinking of ways to rationalize and justify this to Mio. While she didn't want to cast blame, she thought about how much fucking easier this had been if Mugi had found it in her _not_ to give that kiss. Ritsu didn't understand, Mugi had always been so good about keeping the public displays of affection to a minimum. Why did she have to slip up just then?

Frustration was paramount, and Ritsu considered telling Mio to pull over so she could just walk home or catch a bus. She couldn't bring herself to make Mio waste the trip though. She had dealt with actually shitty people for longer amounts of time, so she knew she could probably handle a strain between her and Mio. Besides, they had been together for so long, it wasn't like one little fight could hurt them.

Ritsu began thinking a back to when they were little, and how things were different back then. No problems, no worries, no tragedies. The only thing she had to worry about was…

"Mio?" She suddenly spoke up, remembering something.

"What?" Mio shot her an annoyed glare, looking like she wanted nothing to do with her.

"Do you remember that summer when we were eight years old?"

"No." Mio instantly replied, focusing on the road again.

"Oh come on, you have to." Ritsu sat up and was suddenly remembering more and more. "Remember all those kids in school were talking about how the woods were haunted?"

Mio shivered suddenly. Meekly, she answered, "Yeah… yeah, I remember that. Why?"

"We went to see for ourselves, remember?"

"Yeah… which in hindsight was incredibly stupid. We were like an hour away from home. Some predator could have found us easily."

"Yeah, we were just stupid kids back then, huh? Do you remember what we found in the forest though?"

"No. Do you?"

"Nope." Ritsu answered, wondering to herself just where these thoughts had come from.

After being in those woods back in May, Ritsu mentally cringed at just how incredibly stupid the two of them had been to play there as kids. Back home in May she had gone through the newspaper archives at the library when she learned about Azusa's death. Picking through the obituaries, she had learned just how many people - namely children - had met strange and horrific deaths beyond those trees. Countless suicides, unexplained homicides, and bodies being fished out of streams made Ritsu wonder just how somewhere could be so bloody and have no attention around it.

Still, she was grateful nothing had happened to the two of them back there in… whatever year it had been. Ritsu was too lazy to do the mental math.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	3. We're Lost, Help Us

**THE FOREVER NIGHT**

**PART THREE**

**WE'RE LOST, HELP US**

_We end up far away  
Out on the breeze  
Take me past the horizon  
We're running out of time  
It's the end of the world  
It's the end of the world_

-_Ephemeral _by _October Tide_

**1**

Ritsu awoke, but didn't remember falling asleep. Where was she? She didn't know. All she remembered were a few vague dreams of a very gray library, and a very rainy day. She couldn't remember the rest.

The car was stopped at the side of the road… somewhere. They were up near the mountains in the countryside. Everything was painted white by a light snowfall, and fat flakes lazily drifted down from a very gray sky. Ritsu found that odd since the forecast said nothing about temperature reaching anywhere close to zero anywhere in Japan that week. Snow was piled up on the hood of the car as well, and the windshield was frosted.

It was cold. The car wasn't running at all, and Ritsu found that her leather jacket with the broken zipper just wasn't doing it.

_"It this still a dream?_" She wondered to herself, and turned her head right to the driver's seat.

Mio's seat was reclined back, and she was snoozing soundly. Breath fogged around her nose and mouth in regular intervals.

"Mio…" Ritsu whispered, and reached over to nudge her. She was wondering just what the flying fuck was going on, and wanted so desperately to believe that Mio hadn't had just pulled them over to have a nice little sleep in the middle of goddamned nowhere. The scariest thing was how _she_ didn't remember going to sleep, but she remembered dreaming.

A chill ran down her spine as her thoughts turned to what she had just dreamed about. Mio didn't react to her touch, and for the most fleeting of moments, Ritsu wondered if she was dead. She wasn't afraid, just curious even if Mio was clearly breathing. She had the strangest feeling that her eyes were deceiving her.

"_Two dreams in a row…" _She thought, keeping her hand on Mio's shoulder. "_…I hadn't really thought about those woods in a while until Mio showed up. Maybe I'm not as over all that stuff as I thought I was. Just take a deep breath, girl. Some spooky dream is the last thing I need to worry about right now._"

With another nudge, this time a bit more forceful, Ritsu repeated, "Mio."

"Rit…su?" Mio slowly opened her eyes and gave a wide yawn. "What… wh-where… where are we?"

"Oh no…" Ritsu whispered.

Mio shot up in her seat, frantically looking around at the winter landscape around them. "Ritsu, how did we get here!? Where are we?"

"I don't know." Ritsu answered, surprisingly calm. "I just woke up a minute ago."

The black-haired girl went for her keys, turning them desperately to get the car started. Nothing happened. "No! No! No!" She slammed her fist against the wheel and growled. "Start! Start, dammit!"

Ritsu gave a dry, humorless laugh and rested her feet on the dashboard. "Ever get the feeling you're dead and are in Hell?"

"Yes!" Mio shouted and hit her steering wheel again. "That's _exactly _how I feel. Ritsu, you're a cop, tell me how to hotwire this thing and get us going. Let's just get to a gas station and figure out just what the hell happened to my _new_ car!"

"It stopped working." Ritsu shrugged. She felt very disconnected from all of this.

Mio grumbled and pointed at Ritsu. "Listen, you little smartass. I'm not the only one stuck, and I'm not the only one cold. Help me get my car out of this ditch!"

Ritsu rolled her eyes. "No need to get all pissy."

"You haven't seen pissy yet." Mio assured her.

"Right, right." She lowered her legs down from the dashboard and sat forward. Ritsu felt like she needed a cup of coffee or something. Part of her just didn't feel all there, like she was still mostly asleep. She smacked her cheek hard to wake herself up, and it sort of worked. "Mio, I don't know how to hotwire a car. I don't know how to hotwire a car for the same reason they didn't teach me how to make mailbox bombs in the police academy. Secondly, it's the year twenty-goddamned-twelve. We have cellphones. Call a tow and a cab and we can be back at your parent's place for dinner."

Mio sighed and buried her head in her arms. "You're right. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"It's all good, sister." Ritsu flashed her a peace sign with her fingers. She patted her jacket pocket, but didn't feel her own phone. She just wanted to text Mugi and tell her what happened, but only felt her MP3 player. "Did I leave my phone with my clothes and stuff?"

"No, you had it out when we ate at McDonalds." Mio answered, looking around for her own phone.

"Must've fallen out of my pocket then." She gathered. "I wanna let Mugi know that our travel plans hit a bump."

Mio said nothing.

Ritsu looked around the seat for where her phone could have dropped. Mio was seemingly facing the same predicament because she was doing the same. Trying to remain calm, Ritsu made conversation, "Hey, do you know when I fell asleep?"

"No, you were awake the whole time I was, or as far as I can remember that's how it happened." Mio answered, not quite as calm as Ritsu. "I don't know what happened, Ritsu. I remember getting cut off trying to make the turn onto an on ramp and then… next thing I know I wake up from a freaky dream and we're here."

"You too?" Ritsu shivered. "What are the chances? Simultaneously blacking out, and winding up here in one piece. Man, I'm going to sue the _hell_ out of McDonalds for whatever they put in their fries."

Mio gave an exhausted sigh at Ritsu's bad joke. She leaned back in her reclined seat and hugged her knees. Her voice was a very angry mutter that began to rise, practically spitting as she ranted and swore. "I can't fucking find it Ritsu. I can't find my phone, my car's dead, and we're stuck in the middle of _nowhere_!"

Ritsu couldn't find hers either, and had the strangest sense of déjà vu that something like this had happened in some alternate universe. Mio looked broken though, with eyes on the very verge of tears. Ritsu had never heard her talk like that either.

"Hey, hey, Mio…" Ritsu reached over to take her hand. "…It's gonna be okay. It's one of those things that's like, it seems bad now but before you know it we'll be home and thinking about how good of a conversation starter it'll be."

"I'm scared though, Ritsu." Mio told her in a meek voice. "Why can't I remember driving here? Why won't my car work? And where did my phone go?"

"I don't know, Mio." She answered and gave her hand a squeeze. "We're in Japan though. I bet five minutes down this road and we'll find a phone to use and get this all sorted out."

"What if we can't though?" Mio asked the dreaded _if_.

Ritsu let go of her and sank back into her seat. "I don't know what to tell you then. I don't really like just sitting around waiting for something to fix itself. We should make the first move."

Mio sniffled as a tear ran down her cheek though. "I'm scared though!"

"Scared of what?"

"All of this!" She whined and slammed her fist against the wheel a third time. "Things like this don't happen in real life, Ritsu! Cars don't stop working, two people don't have simultaneous blackouts, and phones don't just vanish! How can you be so calm!?"

"I'm a cop, Mio." Ritsu answered. "It's just kind of beaten into me. Do you… want me to hold you or anything?"

"No, I'm fine." Mio sniffled hard and found a tissue out of her purse to wipe her nose with.

"Afraid you'll catch the gay?" Ritsu dared to tease.

Mio blew her nose and grumbled, "I'm afraid I'd catch something a lot worse."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She pouted.

"Nothing, nothing." Mio managed to smirk at her for a second. "I still want to know, how are you so calm?"

Again, Ritsu shrugged. "I'm not. I just... don't have as much to be afraid of."

"What are you talking about?"

Ritsu didn't know how to explain it. "Remember when I said Mugi almost, uh…" She couldn't bring herself to say it. "…I almost died too; maybe even worse. Something like that changes you. The little things don't really scare you as much."

"Oh my god, Ritsu." Mio was speechless. They sat in silence just looking forward for a minute before Mio spoke up again, "What… what happened?"

"I'll tell you later." Ritsu told her. "First, let's figure out what we're doing."

"Yeah, okay." Mio exhaled through her nose. "Should we…. Should we wait for someone? Maybe if someone drives by, they'll see us and stop to help." Suddenly she stomped her foot in frustration. "Who am I kidding? If my phone disappears and my car got hit with some magical electromagnetic field from some magic fairyland. Asking for someone to come and help us is like asking for Elvis Presley to rise from the grave and play a show for my birthday."

"Now you're speaking my language." Ritsu looked at the backseat. "Let's pack our shit and hit the road, Mio."

"W-What about my car?" She didn't sound like she wanted to leave it behind in the snow.

"Lock it; take anything worth stealing with you." Ritsu answered and reached back to grab her duffle bag.

"So you're saying take the car with me." Mio reached back and grabbed her single tote bag that her things were in. "I guess I'll have to compromise. Should we just keep heading down the road, or turn back after-"

"Keep going." Ritsu cut her off. "See if we can't catch a ride. I got my badge still, that should get us somewhere… or at least tell any crazy people that there will be some serious police backing and funding to find my –and by proxy yours- butchered corpse in whatever freezer we get crammed into."

"That's an impeccable boost to my confidence." Mio sounded like she was trying to be a bit more optimistic. "Come on, let's get out of here. I feel a lot better that my murder will be dealt with the full support of the law under you."

"Don't worry Mio." Ritsu opened her side's door. "That crazy stuff you see in ero-guro doujins doesn't actually happen. There's never any chatter over the radio about how one of my patrol brothers found some school girl in more pieces than a _Burger King_ meal has calories."

Mio opened her own door. "That's not what I'm really worried about." She sighed and stepped out into the snow. "This is more stressful than scary. Our parade totally got snowed on, and my mom is going to be flippant over this. She still babies me, huge."

"You _are_ her little baby girl." Ritsu stepped outside and felt all the warmth there had been in the car just disappear. It was _freezing_ out, and already ice and snow were getting into her shoes and socks after just one step into the stuff. This was not going to be fun. A gust of wind blew and it was so cold it made Ritsu's lips sting and her bosom's finer features harden painfully. Mio gave a yelp and shivered under her flimsy purple hoodie.

Ritsu sighed and waded through the snow around the front of the car and shrugged off her leather jacket.

"Ritsu, don't…" Mio tried to stop her.

Ignoring her, Ritsu put her leather jacket over Mio's shoulders and patted her on the back playfully. "Call it a weird, gay sense of chivalry. Looking at you being cold is worse than being cold myself."

Mio gave her a genuine smile and worked her arms through the sleeves. "Thanks, that's really sweet of you. I guess you are kind of charming in some kind of weird, gay way. No wonder she likes you."

"What can I say? I'm a chick magnet." Ritsu would have smiled as she joked along if it weren't so damned cold. It made her wonder if they were really in Japan, and not the northern reaches of Sweden or something. Still, she was able to force a bit of a smile. "The jacket looks good on you."

"Thanks." Mio began walking forward at the edge of the road.

They didn't talk much for the few hours they walked down that snowy road. The situation was bleak, and idle chitchat just didn't feel quite right. It was that type of conversation Ritsu hated, that sort of dialogue that felt more complimentary and expected instead of just normal conversation. They had talked just fine earlier in the car, and Ritsu didn't understand why couldn't be like that.

She had her MP3 player to keep her company though. Time flew by in her head as she listened to album _Those Once Loyal..._ by Bolt Thrower and mentally tried to tab out the drums. It was a mental excersise she did to past the time, try to learn the drums for songs and play them when she got home. This album was looking like a good candidate. The double bass was well within her capabilities. She wondered if Mio could play the bass like Bolt Thrower's female bassist, Jo. They sort of looked alike in Ritsu's opinion.

The sky was beginning to get dark. Aching and exhausted, neither of them had any idea what time it could have been.

It looked like Mio was going to say something, but she remained silent as something caught both her and Ritsu's eyes. It was a green road sign not far ahead, with another on the opposite side of the road facing the other direction.  
It read, "_Okamishin 21_".

"Okamishin?" Ritsu didn't believe this. "Just how backwater are we that there's a town named _Okamishin_? And I don't know about you, Mio, but I don't know if I can hike another twenty-one kilometers in this snow."

"I don't know if I can either." Mio whispered and trudged forward. Ritsu followed her and they looked at the other sign.

There were several closer towns and cities marked with their distances. One or two of the names Ritsu recognized in passing, but a single one stood out.

_Tokyo 461_

"Mio… did measurement system change recently without anyone telling me?" Ritsu asked, not even hearing her own voice. Her head was dizzy, light, and she felt like she was going to faint. "Because there isn't any way we drove 461 kilometers without remembering it."

"R-Ritsu, where are we?" Mio whispered, trembling.

"We could be on Hokkaido for all I know." Ritsu dropped her duffle bag and looked up at the sky. There weren't more than a few hours of daylight left if they were lucky. Being stuck out there at night would turn their situation from frustrating to potentially deadly if it got colder. Even then, both of them were shivering constantly in their wet clothes.

Mio fell to her knees and began to cry. It all came pouring out. Ritsu stood there staring at that number as Mio wailed into the snow. She was a wreck, a sad sight to behold, and Ritsu was completely lost at what to do. This wasn't possible. There was no way they could have ended up here. If Ritsu's mental map was correct, they were at the most northern points of Japan now up in the mountains. That explained why it was so cold at least.

She looked at Mio and wondered what to do, or what to say. She felt like crying herself. It felt like reality was starting to become blurry in the wake of strange events.

"Please not again…" She whispered to herself, too quiet for crying Mio to hear. "Please, please, please…"

Her mind went back to the events in May that brought Mugi and her together again. She knew it was wild to assume this had anything to do with back then, but the thought was there. Ritsu didn't know if she couldn't handle two 'adventures' like that in one lifetime. Hell, she was barely handling the last one.

"What do we do, Ritsu?" Mio sobbed beside her.

"Keep going north-ish down this road." Ritsu replied in a louder whisper. "This town is all we got, Mio. We need to get moving soon. Come, you're a big girl, you can handle this."

"_Don't baby me!_" She wailed at Ritsu, grabbing handfuls of her black hair in frustration. "And don't pretend this is alright!"

Ritsu frowned, no longer even wanting to try keeping positive. "Tell me something I don't know. Guess what? Everything about this right now is fucked. But thankfully whoever jacked my phone left me my wallet. Let's get to this town, find a hostel or motel, get warm, or we'll be fucked too."

She stepped forward and offered Mio a pink, numb hand. She took it and Ritsu pulled her up to her feet, patting her on the shoulder.

"Look on the bright side, Mio."

"_What_ bright side?"

"We're not dead and we're not in Hell." She let go of Mio and began walking again. "It's too cold to be Hell."

**2**

There were many terms Ritsu would have used to describe her trek with Mio down a snow covered road in the evening. After much consideration, the winner was, 'Forced Death March'. After four and a half hours of walking through snow in wet clothes with icy winds blasting her and with so little in the ways of warmth, Ritsu wondered just how she wasn't dead from exposure. Mio seemed to be holding up better at least with both her hoodie and Ritsu's leather jacket.

Lights in the distance were probably the single best thing Ritsu had ever seen just after waking up next to Mugi after preventing the apocalypse. The road they were following split with a side road heading left to Okamishin. At the intersection was a lonely looking gas station. The sun was down, and the giant sign displaying gas prices shone like a beacon.

"Oh god, finally!" Ritsu found herself laughing, and grabbed Mio's hand. "Come on, I'll buy us a round of hot chocolate and warm food or just something, anything!"

"I wish there were more cars parked there…" Mio didn't seem as enthusiastic. "…you know, some more than none at all."

"Mio, we didn't pass a single car in the last five hours. Business isn't booming out here. Now have your hot chocolate and drink it too." She pulled Mio along to the gas station's lot. The place was pretty deserted, but Ritsu was too exhausted and cold to care. Mio, on the other hand, looked scared stiff.

The convenience store that came standard was a small little building with all the windows covered in various advertisements for beer and cigarettes. A beer didn't sound too bad to Ritsu, but wasn't exactly lining up to see what alcohol did to a cold body. She was hungry too, and was hoping the place had some sort of deli.

An animal barking made both of them jump, and Mio yelp. At the corner – far from the door, thank god – was a husky looking dog on a metal chain. It jumped, barked, and snarled at them from where its chain kept it.

"Poor thing…" Mio was breathing hard, and shaking a bit from the scare. "…chained up in the cold like this."

"Probably a good thing. I bet that mutt would try to kill us otherwise." Ritsu grumbled. She didn't particularly like dogs. The police German shepherds always kept her on edge, and she _hated_ whenever they got called to a scene. They always looked like they were itching for their masters to give the word to start tearing out throats. That husky barking at them looked like he was part of the same mindset.

A bell chimed as Ritsu practically dragged Mio inside.

"It must be two hundred degrees warmer in here." Ritsu practically purred at the heating. The place was decrepit, no other way to explain it. Most of the shelves were empty, and what remained had no semblance of order or organization. It was like whoever stocked them just placed things wherever. That or he had some grand scheme that involved coffee filters being placed next to Cheetos in between a six pack of Pepsi. At the counter was a woman who looked like she was waiting to die. Unkempt hair, dirty clothes, a massive burn on her lower lip and sunken eyes with dark circles under them. Friendly was not a word that Ritsu would have used to describe her.

"I'm going to wait outside, Ritsu." Mio whispered, stepping backwards out the door.

"Mio, what are you doing? Step inside and warm up." Ritsu went to grab at Mio's hand, but she scrambled out the door. With a heavy sigh, Ritsu blushed and looked to the woman at the counter. "S-Sorry, she's really shy."

"You've been walking around out there in a t-shirt?" The woman asked, raising a dark eyebrow. "Funny way to try and get yourself killed. Leave your bag at the door, I ain't having some bitch walk in and rob me clean."

"Excuse me?" Ritsu went for her badge in her coat pocket, and realized it was with Mio. Sighing again, she slowly put her duffle bag down.

_Yeah, maybe Mio had the right idea…_

With watchful eyes on her, Ritsu enjoyed the warmth of the store and looked around the chaotic shelves for anything that could stave off her hunger. Everything was months and months past their expiration dates.

"So where'd you come in from? You and that other pretty girl?" The unfriendly woman asked.

"Got stuck here." Ritsu replied, wanting to keep it vague. "Know where I can find a phone or maybe a hotel? Somewhere to eat too?"

"Just waltz into town, stranger. We got all that. Try not to let my door hit you on that ass on the way out."

Ritsu stepped back towards the exit, keeping her eyes on Mrs. Unfriendly. "Thanks, I guess. Have a good night."

"Oh, I will." She chuckled, rather creepily, as Ritsu left.

With her bag in hand, Ritsu practically skated across the slush over to Mio. Shivering again, she said, "Okay, you were right in staying out here."

"What happened?" Mio asked her.

Ritsu shook her head. "Nothing. Come on, that lady said there was a hotel, phone, and food in town."

**3**

It was hard to say just what Ritsu had expected Okamishin to be like. Her optimism suggested a cozy little village nestled in the mountains. Her pessimism suggested a dilapidated cluster of trailers in the same quality of that gas station from just before. She borrowed her leather jacket back, especially wanting it for her badge. It could come in handy there.

What she and Mio found was very different than what she had expected. Okamishin was a town quite alive. It was built into one side of a large valley, with the other side being a snow covered forest. The road they took was at the bottom off the valley. There was a main street breaking off from it, and it was abuzz with what looked like some sort of festival. Paper lanterns decorated every building, and stalls lined the road filled with everything expected from a festival: games, vendors, attractions, everything.

The juxtaposition from the cold, lonely road only minutes ago was almost frightening.

Kids ran around in their yukatas and wooden sandals that clacked along the slushy pavement. Many of the adults were more conventionally dressed, but a few wore yukatas as well. A lot of kids and adults both wore strange white and red wolf masks, usually just hanging off the side of their head casually. While masks in festivals weren't exactly uncommon, Ritsu wasn't used to seeing the exact same ones on everyone. It was a little eerie.

"Rit…su?" Mio addressed her in a quiet voice. "Is this a dream? It feels like that movie, _Spirited Away_."

"Kinda does." Ritsu nodded, and took Mio's hand in her own. "I guess the people are friendly then, they just need a better welcoming committee."

"Let's hope so. I really, really want to go home, Ritsu…" Mio squeezed her hand. She looked pale, like she was ready to just faint from it all. "I don't care about this festival at all."

"Neither do I." Ritsu assured her. "Come on; let's find a hotel room or something. Maybe get something to eat."

For a moment, things looked up and were a bit smoother. They found some stand selling Korean barbeque. They bought some on a kebab and the man there was friendly, much more so compared to the last resident they had encountered. He gave them directions to some local mom and pop place that almost always had vacant rooms. Apparently this festival was a big thing, something that drew people from nearby towns, especially if they had family there.

At night, it was hard to really catch a glimpse of how big the town was. The main street seemed to drag on for a bit, but around it were a lot of vacant and overgrown lots. The festival decorations made it look pretty, but it was easy for Ritsu to see the decay beneath it all. Okamishin was slowly dying, and it was obvious even to an outside eye. Little things Ritsu could tell, just how there was no money for the town seat to repair anything. A lot of buildings were abandoned and she hazarded a guess that the housing prices were so low that she could buy a place and pay off the mortgage in one paycheck.

The motel they were directed to wasn't far off the main road. It was actually a quaint, cozy little place nestled into a grove of fir trees. It was decorated for the festival, and there were multiple cars on the lot. It felt safer somehow, just like a normal building. It didn't have a name though.

"I'll pay for this." Ritsu insisted as she walked to the front door.

"We'll split it." Mio protested.

"No we won't." She stepped in to the lobby. It was warm inside, and smelled like what Ritsu thought a hotel should smell like. The lobby had a few plush chairs and a couch with a flat screen TV in one corner. Normally these TVs at hotel lobbies just played the news, but the girl at the desk was watching anime on it.

Ritsu was surprised when she recognized that anime. It was _Upotte!_ and Mugi had really liked it, if she remembered right. Afterwards, she had asked Ritsu what guns the two of them would have been if they were guns. Completely confused by that answer, Ritsu had no idea how to answer. Mugi suggested she would have been a Suomi KP/-31 while Ritsu would have been a M240 machine gun.

In Mugi's excited words it was because, "_The way you can drum for hours is like you're a belt fed machine gun that fires off 7.62mm NATO rounds at 950 rounds per minute!_"

Ritsu thought that was a compliment, but wasn't sure because she had no idea what any of that meant.

"Hey, you two." The girl at the counter addressed them. She looked like a college student maybe, and was rather plain. She had plain hair, a plain face, and just a plain figure all around. She wore a plain gray shirt and plain blue jeans. To Ritsu, she looked like an extra from an anime that was just penciled into the background.

"Got a room for two?" Ritsu approached the counter.

"Depends. You ain't looking for some lover's suite are you?" She suddenly sneered. "I don't want a couple of fucking queers staying here."

"Excuse me?" Ritsu was too astounded by what she had just said to do anything more than blink.

"Yeah, we don't want know gays ruining this place."

Still absolutely astounded, Ritsu looked over at Mio. Mio had a very similar expression of shock. Suddenly, the girl there suddenly burst out laughing.

"Holy shit, I'm just fucking with you!" She laughed, pounding a fist on the counter. "Oh fuck, the look on your face! Ahahaha!"

"Yeah, you're fuckin' hilarious." Ritsu furrowed her brow.

"Christ, stop letting your panties ride up so high." She continued to snigger. "So what, you two here for the big festival?"

Ritsu was going to lie and tell her yes, but Mio answered, "N-No, we're stuck here."

_Honesty is NOT the best policy! _Ritsu griped in her head.

"Oh!" That strange girl suddenly had her eyes on Mio. "Oh! Oh! Oh! You're fucking perfect!"

"What?" Mio took a step backwards, looking terrified.

The stranger came around the counter towards her, smiling. "Shit, sorry for messing with you. Look, we got this big play thing we do at the end of the first night of the festival. We were missing a part and that you'd be _perfect_ for! I'm Higashiyama Hitomi, and listen, this part is real simple. You just need to stand there in costume, that's all."

"No." Ritsu answered right away, crossing her arms. "Just let us get a room, okay?"

"Ahahaha. No. Fuck you." Hitomi replied to Ritsu with an evil smirk, matching her gesture with the crossed arms. "Here's a better deal. Your friend here plays this easy little part and you two get a free room. I doubt you could afford a room otherwise."

"Yeah, we'll see about that." Ritsu grumbled and fished out her wallet. She opened it, looking for her debit card and…

_It was gone._

Her eyes went wide; all she had were a few notes that were good for a meal or two and not much more. Hitomi was smirking at her.

Biting her lower lip, Ritsu replied a little uneasily. "I'm a cop, got that? You do anything to hurt Mio here in anyway and you're going to be inviting huge trouble on yourself."

Hitomi was unfazed. "I don't think there will be a problem. Mio is it? Not a bad name, better than 'Ritsu' for sure."

_I… never told her my name… _Ritsu realized with a bit of shock.

"So what do you say, _Mio_?"

Mio nervously fidgeted and stared at her shoes like they were the most interesting thing in the world. "I…I don't know… I-I just have to stand there? That's it?"

"That's it." Hitomi nodded with a smile. "You can do that, right? You just gotta switch into a black yukata and that's it. You'll get your own private dressing room and everything. There's a lot of kids and families here, so don't expect anything weird. It's just a family tradition, you know?"

"I…I guess." Mio did not look at all okay with this. "Ritsu, can you afford this otherwise? I only have a little bit of cash on me."

Ritsu gulped hard and hesitantly replied, "N-No… I c-can't. I left my debit card at home."

"Looks like we have worked out a deal then." Hitomi had a very triumphant look on her face. She stepped behind the counter and found the keys to a vacant room. She tossed them to Mio. "Room 4. All yours for, let's says… two nights? That sounds fair."

"Thank you very much." Mio's voice was a frightened whisper. "This is v-very fortunate."  
"Haha, no, thank you!" Hitomi laughed and fished her cellphone out of her pocket. "The show starts in three hours, so go get comfortable. Have dinner, all that fun shit. I gotta make a phone call."

To Ritsu this woman reminded her _far_ too much of a girl she had met back in May. Ayumu Suigura. She was part of the reason Mugi and Ritsu were together, and why Ritsu had a scar on her shoulder from where a bullet had grazed her. It was the first and only time she had been shot at; and it was also the only time she had ever shot back. A feeling of dread and despair filled her gut. She _knew_ something was wrong with Hitomi, but she felt like she wasn't in any position to bargain.

She knew one thing though. Mio was _not_ going to taking part in this. Ritsu was _not_ going to let that happen. Maybe Hitomi was just a vulgar girl, and this festival was nothing, but she didn't want to take chances. Last time she had done that, the whole world almost ended. Ritsu liked to think that she learned from her mistakes from time to time.

"Let's go." Ritsu said to Mio, and slowly went for the door outside. Her eyes found the clock, it was just after six now. She hoped the hotel room had a phone so she could call Mugi, and Mio could call her parents.

Mio gulped hard and followed her, so far completely silent to all of this. Ritsu looked at her with eyes that tried to tell her that she wouldn't have to go through with this. It almost looked like Mio understood.

As they left, Ritsu caught a snatch of conversation between Hitomi and whoever she had been calling.

"Yeah, Izanami, I found her. I ain't shitting you, I found our _Catalyst_."

**TO BE CONTINUED**


End file.
